Tanzanian health minister warns of possible new cholera outbreak

Tanzanian health minister Ummy Mwalimu on Monday warned of possible new outbreak of cholera in the east African nation.

Mwalimu appealed to district and regional health officials to enforce by-laws aimed at checking the spread of the deadly disease and launch campaigns aimed at raising public awareness on the disease.

A latest report released by the Ministry of Health indicated that at least six people have died of cholera and at least 458 people were reported suffering from the disease in November in the country.

The report mentioned most affected regions as Morogoro with 282 cases, Dodoma with 96 cases, Mara with 31 cases, Kigoma with 30 cases, Arusha with 11 cases and Dar es Salaam with eight cases.

"The number of regions affected by cholera has been increasing from four in October to six regions last month," she told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Mwalimu said the disease was mainly caused by poor sanitation, adding that some people have tendency to contaminate sources of water bodies.

She said cholera symptoms included nausea, profuse diarrhea, vomiting, fever and leg cramps, adding that in severe cases, cholera can lead to dehydration, coma or death.

In April this year, Mwalimu said cholera killed 320 people and infected over 20,000 in Tanzania since the outbreak erupted in August last year.

Ummy Mwalimu expressed concern over the increasing number of cholera cases, describing the outbreak as "the worst since 1978".

"As government, we've tried to sensitize the public on how to become free from the epidemic, but things are not encouraging," Mwalimu said in a statement. Endit