11 mln people at risk of contracting elephantiasis in Zambia

The Zambian government said on Thursday that 11 million people were living in districts that were endemic to elephantiasis and were at risk of contracting the disease.

Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the government has since launched a second mass drug administration program in 85 endemic districts in all the 10 provinces as a preventive measure against the disease.

He said in a ministerial statement delivered in parliament that the ministry commenced the second phase of the drug administration from Oct. 10 to 30, which was being implemented for a five-day period in each district.

The move, he said, follows a successful campaign conducted last year, in which 10.8 million people living in the endemic districts received the preventive chemotherapy.

The minister implored people living in the endemic areas to participate in the exercise.

Elephantiasis is transmitted from person to person when a mosquito infected with the filarial parasite bites a person who is not infected. Endit