Cholera epidemic spreads in DR Congo

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-11-2008 10:50

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an outbreak of cholera in a sprawling refugee camp has spread to the provincial capital of Goma.

Relief officials say they have recorded more than 50 cases of cholera in the refugee camps since Friday. (CCTV.com)

As the crisis escalates, aid is trickling in to feed the hundreds of thousands of displaced who are making their way to refugee camps.

Two infected residents were admitted to Goma Hospital on Sunday, along with two refugees who were taking shelter in the city.

Relief officials say they have recorded more than 50 cases of cholera in the refugee camps since Friday.

Megan Hunter, MSF Doctor, said, "For the moment we are a bit concerned the sanitation conditions in the camp are not particularly good. Cholera is a disease that is very much about water and sanitation. If people are living in conditions where they don't have enough latrines, where they don't have access to good water then they are at more risk for getting cholera."

Doctors also fear an epidemic north of Goma behind rebel lines. Access there has been limited by fighting. Rebels have driven tens of thousands of people from camps where outbreaks had been contained.

Renewed fighting over the weekend has ignited fears that patients could scatter and launch an epidemic.

Meanwhile, International Committee of the Red Cross trucks pulled into the Kibati camp on Monday. Red Cross workers distributed food aid to the residents. The ICRC distributed enough flour, oil, salt and beans to feed three thousand families for 10 days.

Also on Monday, the EU welcomed efforts by African countries to offer peacekeepers in an effort to halt the fighting in the DRC.

But EU foreign ministers remained divided on whether they themselves should send a force to help the stretched UN peacekeeping force.

France has tried, but so far failed, to rally EU support for a joint military mission in the DRC. Three thousand extra troops are reportedly needed to reinforce the UN peacekeeping force there.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei