A state of emergency has been announced in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, due to a cholera outbreak.
Dozens of individuals have lost their lives in the ongoing outbreak, which has resulted in over 7,000 suspected cases thus far.
City authorities have expressed that the widespread spread of the outbreak throughout the city is reminiscent of a deadly incident in 2008, during which thousands lost their lives.
“We have declared a state of emergency because of cholera,” local media quoted Mayor Ian Makone as saying.
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) reports that health authorities have been facing difficulties in managing the surge of admissions resulting from the outbreak.
It highlights a shortage of healthcare workers to handle the cases and a scarcity of supplies necessary to halt the transmission as contributing factors.
In recent months, Zimbabwe has been grappling with a lethal cholera outbreak due to inadequate access to clean water.
According to authorities, the high-density suburb of Kuwadzana in Harare stands as the focal point of the current outbreak, contributing to nearly half of the reported cases.
Cholera, characterized by severe diarrhea, is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
The Harare mayor mentioned on Thursday that the current cholera outbreak bears similarities to the one experienced in 2008.
The outbreak resulted in the fatalities of more than 4,000 individuals, infecting at least 100,000 people, causing a breakdown in essential services across the country.
In 2018, the nation declared a state of emergency following the report of 20 deaths and over 2,000 cases linked to typhoid and cholera.
“The cholera outbreak has come with vengeance,” the mayor was quoted as saying on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that the country had documented 7,398 suspected cases, with 50 confirmed deaths and 109 individuals hospitalized.
As the health minister visited the outbreak’s epicenter, measures were announced to address the situation, such as the removal of street food vendors and the provision of safe water through trucking initiatives.
According to the IFRC, the disease is rapidly spreading, impacting numerous geographical areas across 45 out of 62 districts and in all 10 provinces of the country.
It says the outbreak can be expected to cross the border.
In the past, neighboring countries like Malawi, South Africa, and Mozambique have also faced recurring cholera outbreaks.