Two people are confirmed dead after a fresh Cholera outbreak claimed their lives leaving 39 others admitted Namatala health Centre IV Isolation center in Mbale district.
According to Patrick Madaya, the Mbale Deputy District Disease Surveillance Focal Person, the deceased include a 12 year-old boy from Namakwekwe ward in Northern Division and a 60-year-old man from Bukiende Sub County.
Madaya tells us that the minor died at Tobin Clinic along Mbale-Kumi road while the old man died at one of the homes where he was being attended too by relatives.
Currently, the cholera cases are from Namatala ward, Bukasakya, Bungokho, Namayonyi, Bukiende and Bungokho-Mutoto sub counties. Madaya attributes the outbreak to poor hygiene, arguing that most of the affected community members drink water from contaminated sources.
It is also believed that some of the areas have poor latrine coverage with ten families sharing a pit latrine. According to Yaweri Ferara, an official at the Isolation center, most of the victims confess that they have been drinking water from unprotected sources.
They have now started sensitizing the community on preventing cholera infection.
