Cholera Outbreak

AN OUTBREAK of cholera in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region has killed two people and confined 26 others to hospital beds in a matter of three days.

Reports monitored by correspondent George Antwi at Nkawkaw indicated that from last Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29, the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital had received 16 diarrhoea cases with the remaining 10 going to the Atibie Government Hospital and clinics at Obo, Nkwatia and other towns.

Obo, where the two people died, had been experiencing cholera attacks since year 2000 when supply of pipe-borne water was cut following the breakdown of a booster machine that pumped the water to Obo from Mpraeso.

When the Kwahu South District director of Health Services, Dr. Joseph Kwajo Larbi Opare was contacted, he confirmed the report and said that the result of poor sanitary and unsafe water supply from unprotected hand-dug wells in their vicinity could be responsible for the outbreak.

He recommended the authorities to task the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to chlorinate all the hand-dug wells in the district, especially Nkawkaw and Obo.

He urged the environmental health officers in the district to ensure good sanitary conditions in all the affected areas.

Dr. Opare advised that the people drink pipe-borne water or boil water from other sources, to ensure strict personal hygiene with emphasis on hand washing.

They should not expose food to flies and ensure proper disposal of waste. Food sold to the general public should be kept in a sieve and served hot.

Meanwhile, a source at the Kwahu South District Assembly has informed Chronicle that the assembly which was finding it difficult to get a site for liquid waste disposal has now been able to secure one and has dug a manhole for the disposal of liquid waste in the district especially, Nkawkaw.

The director of Health Services, however assured the people that the situation was under control and that there was enough vaccine and personnel to contain the situation.