Five more people have died of cholera in Mbale bringing to 21, the number of people who have died since the disease brokeout in the district in February this year. Two of the victims succumbed to death on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The victims are 65-year-old Butamizib Wazeba and 52-year-old Stephen Odeba all residents of Mbale parish in Bukasakya sub-county in Mbale district.
Tibu Abbas Wakhokho, the LC 1 chairperson of Marale village says Wazeba died at around 8:00pm on Friday while Odeba died in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Both victims died in their homes without any medical attention.
He attributes the cause of Cholera in the area to the domestic use of contaminated water. Dr John Baptist Waniaye, the Mbale District Health Officer confirms the latest death cases. He says the two residents contracted the diseases but it was not reported to the responsible authorities.
He claims that on learning that their members of the family had contracted cholera; their relatives abandoned them at homes for fear of also contracting the disease.
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He said the district have started registering an increase in the number of Cholera victims over the two weeks. He attributes to persistent heavy rainfalls that have continued to ravage the district.
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This comes barely three weeks after the district health authorities announced a decline in the prevalence rate.
Dr Waniaye said the medical department does not have a good community referral network because people run away from the sick. He also said the district does have an ambulance that can respond to community calls.
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Generaly Cholera outbreak in Mbale has been blamed on poor sanitation.
