Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Luanda (Agenzia Fides) - Polluted water, oil pipelines, garbage dumps are the main causes of a recent outbreak of cholera in Luanda the most serious in the last decade with 43,000 cases and 1,600 deaths since February. Only half the people in Angola have sanitation near the house, only one of six people has access to running water and many draw water from a common tank. Most villages have no drains. It is estimated that 22,000 trucks are needed to remove garbage.
No one knows the reason for this outbreak after such a long time. Epidemiologists say a long absence of the disease meant people did not develop the necessary antibodies. The first district to be hit was Boa Vista slum a few minutes from the centre of Luanda situated opposite the oil pipeline. Although people wash food carefully, the homes are too near the plant.
From Boa Vista, cholera spread all over Luanda striking all 18 provinces except four. Angola is not the only affected country. Cholera in Sudan has reached Darfur posing a serious threat for 2.5 million persons displaced by civil war living in terrible conditions in camps. The first cases of Cholera were registered in southern Sudan at the end of January where at least 516 people have died of the disease. The World Health Organisation in Nyala, southern Darfur, confirmed 56 cases in the western region and one mortal. (AP) (19/6/2006 Agenzia Fides; Righe:26; Parole:306)
