- Title: [SW News] (XINHUA )More Than 20 Somalis
Killed by Cholera in Bay Region
- From:[]
- Date :[April 03, 2000 9:04 AM EST ]
More Than 20 Somalis Killed by Cholera
Story Filed: Monday, April 03, 2000 9:04 AM EST
MOGADISHU (April 3) XINHUA - Cholera is being reported in several villages in the
famine and drought stricken region of Bay, Somalia,
with the worst hit being Bulo Fullay Village, where more than 20 people have died of the
disease since Sunday morning.
According to Osman Sidi, one of the local elders in the nearby Bur Hakaba District,
health officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) visited the village two days ago to take samples from the stools
of the patients falling for the serious diarrhea.
The samples were then taken to laboratories in Kenya's capital Nairobi for verification
and they have all been tested positive for cholera.
So far 106 people have been lying for the disease inside the temporary quarantine
facility in the village for treatment, said heath workers interviewed.
The situation is getting out of the hand despite serious efforts by the UNICEF
accompanied by the technical support of the WHO in relation to the crises, said Mohamed
Hassan Dhimbil, secretary for regional public affairs.
He said the situation is being aggravated by the scarcity of water in the region as a
result of the droughts which hit the area after no rains were seen in the past two
seasons.
The sanitation is poor, the animals have been moved from the area for pasture and
water, adding to the grievance of the situation, he said.
He said the mal-nutrition has been at its highest since 1992. In another development,
three people died for cholera in the nearby village of Dodaleh on Monday, with dozens more
on the brink of dying as there is no adequate anti-dehydration solution for them to take.
Despite these difficulties, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has
been distributing food to the famine stricken families in Bay, Bakol and Gedo regions
where the drought has been at its worst. More than 700 tons of food has been distributed.
Ali Osman Barirreh, one of the elders in the famine stricken region of Gedo, said the
distribution of beans, maize and cooking oil has been well under way on Monday for the
sixth day.
He acknowledged that despite the food delivery, the situation is far from being stable
because dozens of families are still stranded in the countryside after leaving their
villages and towns for lack of water.
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