An epidemic that is far from slowing down. The number of cholera cases in Mayotte now stands at 85, according to a new report communicated Friday May 17 by Public health France (SPF), which also called for the mobilization of new health reservists to replace those whose mission is about to end.
“As of May 15, 2024, 85 cases of cholera have been reported in Mayotte since the first case on March 18, 2024, of which 68 are indigenous cases and 17 were imported from the Comoros or countries on the African continent,” indicates the health agency. public in a weekly epidemiological update. The last report, on Friday May 10, showed 65 cases. The epidemic has so far left one dead – a 3-year-old girl – and seven cases requiring intensive care.
The vast majority of cases (61) were detected in the commune of Koungou, “in a precarious neighborhood with difficulties in accessing drinking water and sanitation defects”, the main risks of spreading the disease, recalls SPF. “This situation is shared with several other informal neighborhoods in certain municipalities in Mayotte: non-connection of homes to drinking water, lack of wastewater disposal, sharing of latrines in particular,” adds the health agency.
“A risk of local transmission throughout the territory”
“This community transmission of cholera in Koungou and the risk of importing new cases of cholera from the Comoros expose Mayotte to a risk of local transmission throughout the territory, in particular in other precarious neighborhoods,” Public Health France still emphasizes.
A new outbreak was reported three days ago in the commune of M’tzangamouji, where five new indigenous cases were reported. The town hall of Koungou, for its part, issued an order this Wednesday to “temporarily close all educational establishments in the villages of Majicavo Koropa and Majicavo Lamir” until May 18, specifies a document that AFP was able to obtain. An affected student was identified on May 14 in an elementary school in Majicavo Koropa. Health authorities have since disinfected the premises.
A health protocol provides for the disinfection of the patient’s home, the identification and treatment of contact cases and a “ring” vaccination, gradually expanded. As of May 13, 4,456 contact cases had been vaccinated on the island, according to Public Health France, which participates in particular in sending vaccines to mainland France.
A call for reinforcements of new health reservists
On the ground, 86 volunteers from the health reserve, managed by SPF, have been mobilized as “reinforcements” since mid-April, including 54 specifically for cholera. “With certain missions coming to an end soon (they generally last a month), a new recruitment campaign” is underway, specifies the organization.
In a statement, Convergence Nurse, the third union of liberal nurses, is calling for “crisis measures”, in particular the provision for professionals of vaccines and “cholera kits” (water tank with tap and soap for washing hands, for example). example on his vehicle). The union estimates that “the number of real cases is much higher”, because the counting is done “on biological confirmation” and it is difficult to consult. Without forgetting “the isolation of foreigners in an irregular situation, who are moving less and less and are hiding in view of the ‘Mayotte place net’ operation”, while the security and economic situation remains extremely tense on the island.
The first cases of cholera in Mayotte were recorded in mid-March among people returning from neighboring Comoros, where the epidemic is flaring. The first cases in patients who had not left the island appeared at the end of April.
As a result of climate change and the increase in conflicts, the number of cholera cases is currently exploding around the world, underlines the World Health Organization (WHO). Reported cases (only a portion of proven cases) more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 to reach 473,000, then climbed further to more than 700,000 in 2023. Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are among the most severely affected countries currently, says the WHO.