Reuters AlertNet Lite - Cholera kills eight in Comoros, weddings suspected

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Cholera kills eight in Comoros, weddings suspected

07 Aug 2007 14:09:58 GMT
Source: Reuters

MORONI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - An outbreak of cholera has killed eight people and infected scores of others on the Comoros islands since July, a senior doctor said on Tuesday, blaming the food at traditional wedding parties for spreading the disease.

The epidemic on Grande Comore, the largest of the three islands in the Indian Ocean archipelago, coincided with the holiday months when villagers prepare feasts for weddings.

"The cholera epidemic has killed five this month and three in July," Abdoulbar Youssouf, the director general of El-Marouf hospital, the Comoros' largest, told Reuters.

He added that in at least one outbreak over the weekend, nearly 50 people were infected at a wedding party, probably through dirty drinking water or salads.

Grande Comore is known for its extravagant weddings, where many spend their life's savings on gold, gifts and feasts.

Mohamed Moundhiri Djoubeiri, the doctor in charge of the cholera ward at El-Marouf, said traditional feasts were to blame for spreading it.

"The government should ban big dinners during the epidemic periods," he said.

Spread by contaminated food or water, cholera symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting and sometimes death.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Topics

• Cholera

MORE >>

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Comoros profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• Severe Poverty in the UK
Save the Children - International Alliance

• Participating in the broader health agenda
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

• Cholera kills eight in Comoros, weddings suspected

• TANZANIA: Cholera outbreak in northern region, says government official

• Southern Africa: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 344 for 28 July - 03 August 2007

• COMOROS: An expensive stalemate

• Oil-rich Angola faces rural health crisis - MSF

MORE >>

Last updated:Tue Aug 7 14:11:13 2007