Cholera outbreak in French overseas department of Mayotte: Cases double in 48 hours

Now, in the French overseas department of Maot, authorities have opened a second cholera unit. The number of confirmed cases of cholera on the island stands at 26 people. That’s since the middle of March. And the Regional Health agency there has also announced a new emergency unit that on the island’s main hospital. To tell us a bit about this, our science editor Julia Seeger’s with me in the studio. And Julia, before we get to what’s happening in my art, just explain to us just really what is cholera, first of all. So cholera is a disease that causes acute diarrhea and it can lead indeed to death if you don’t get the right treatment on time. Now, it’s transmitted by a bacteria that’s very volatile, very mobile. It’s called vibrio, and it’s transmitted. Typically, it can be transmitted through contaminated food, but most of the time it’s through contaminated water that has been infected by contaminated feces. And it’s a disease that’s really closely linked to poverty because it’s directly linked to access to clean water and basic sanitation services. Now, it affects poor countries, of course, but it also effects war toward countries. And This is why you have an outbreak right now in Yemen, for instance. Those are the pictures we’re showing of you. Exactly. This is, these are, these are the pictures from Yemen, where you have an outbreak and you have had an outbreak for several months now. Now according to studies, there are about 1.3 to 4 million cases that are detected every year and it causes about a 21,000 to A 143,000 deaths. So here you can see a huge difference in both of these numbers. What this means is that it really depends on how swiftly authorities act to be able to curb the the the transmission of this bacteria. Now, it’s very tricky because most infected people won’t actually have symptoms or very mild symptoms and they can be treated very quickly with oral rehydration salts. For severe cases, they can also be treated very rapidly, but you need to have access to these intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Now as I said, it’s really linked to if you have access to clean water, to infrastructure, to basic sanitation services, but it’s also linked to hygiene practices. So it’s really crucial to also be on the ground speaking to people. There is also an cholera vaccine that you can give to contact cases to people who have been in close contact with infected people and that can also help curb the the spread of the disease. Now there’s a global strategy to try to reduce the mortality rate by 90% throughout the world. But Despite that, there’s still a lot of countries that are about battling outbreaks, especially in Eastern Africa and also in the Indian Ocean. All right, well, let’s talk then about what is happening on that French island of my art. So as you said, my art is a French overseas department Indian in Indian Ocean in the very first case was actually an imported cases for an import case from the Kimoros which is neighboring islands and they’ve been battling an outbreak since the beginning of the year. Authorities in Maya reacted swiftly but Despite that ten other cases, imported cases were identified. And it’s only a few days later that the very first local case was identified. And this is when you want to start really putting everything that you can on the ground to be able to curve and and scale up your efforts because it’s not just an imported case anymore. That means that it’s already in the water that you’re using. OK. And tell us just briefly then about the efforts in Maya to fight this. Well, first of all, they’ve strengthened field intervention, so they’ve established screening and referral centers. So this pretty much works like what we’ve experienced during COVID-19, people are going to undergo rapid anti Gen. test. If they’re positive, they go on to do APCR test in the lab. There’s a vaccination campaigns that just started two days ago with mobile health patrols, if you will, and it’s really focused on certain very densely populated area, for instance, like mamudzu and kongu, that you’re going to see here on the map. And the reason why is because you have a lot of slums and as I said, it’s very closely linked to sanitation services. Now you have to understand that it’s a French department, but at the same time, 1/3 of the population doesn’t have access to running water. Now you said at the main hospital has announced its second cholera unit, but they’re already overwhelmed. They have a huge they’re really facing a huge lack of human resources and human health workers. So here, you know, there’s still calls for more people to be sent. There’s already 20 health workers that have been sent from the the health reserve, the French health reserve. All right, important story. Thanks very much indeed, Julia, Sega for us there.