“New cases of cholera have been identified in recent days”, bringing to 26 the total number of confirmed cases “since the start of the alert” in Mayotte, a French department located in the Comoros archipelago, halfway between Madagascar and Africa, announced Sunday in a press release the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Mayotte. The previous report showed 13 cases on Friday, 10 cases imported since mid-March and the first three cases of “native” cholera.
“In view of the situation, and in order to ensure the care of all sick people, the Regional Health Agency and the Mayotte Hospital Center have taken the decision to open a second unit from today cholera’ within the Dzoumogné reference medical center”, specifies the press release.
Epidemic in Comoros since February
As recalled Public health France in an epidemiological update published on April 26, a cholera epidemic has been underway in the Comoros since February 2, “with an intensification of circulation in recent weeks, particularly in Anjouan, the island geographically closest to Mayotte.” In the Comoros, between April 18 and 24, 620 new cases of cholera and 16 deaths were recorded, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
For the first four indigenous cases recorded in Mayotte, “the chain of transmission of these locally acquired cases could not be established, which suggests that the bacteria is already circulating” in the commune of Koungou “and therefore the beginning of community transmission “, notes Public Health France in its point.
A “critical” situation in human resources at the hospital center
“Waiting for the arrival of future reinforcements”, the Mayotte Hospital Center will concentrate its staff on treatment linked to cholera, which will lead to the closure of “all dispensaries, except those in Jacaranda and Mtsapere” , adds the joint press release from the prefecture and the ARS. According to Olivier Brahic, director general of the ARS contacted by AFP, “the situation at the Mayotte hospital center, in terms of human resources, remains very critical, particularly in the emergency room.”
“The French government must take the urgent measures necessary to protect Mayotte from cholera. Still no water 1/3 of the time, still arrivals of illegal immigrants, still more shanty towns, still a car late!” , protested the LR deputy for Mayotte, Mansour Kamardine, on the social network X.
Vaccination and marauding operations
The ARS of Mayotte announced that vaccination operations had been “organized on the ground for several days”, as well as the continuation of “health maraudes”. Unicef, in partnership with the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Médecins du Monde and La Cimade, regretted in a press release on April 19 that the “Place Net” operation carried out in the department by the French government “hinders access to drinking water, thus condemning many families to drink unsafe water”. “The intensification of identity checks around health centers and arrests in medical settings” would create, according to the organizations, a “reluctance among people in an irregular situation to declare their symptoms in the event of a suspected case of cholera.”
As underlines the World Health Organization in a bulletin published at the end of March, approximately 36 million doses of cholera vaccine were produced last year, while the needs of the 14 affected countries worldwide “amounted to 72 million doses.” Global production capacity in 2024 “should be between 37 and 50 million doses, but it will probably remain insufficient to meet needs”. Currently, “23 countries are reporting cholera outbreaks”, with the most affected countries being “Comoros, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe”. details the WHO. In 2022, 473,000 cases of cholera were reported to the WHO worldwide, twice as many as in 2021. For 2023, estimates point to 700,000 cases.
According to the definition of Public Health France, cholera is an acute digestive infection due to the ingestion of water or food contaminated by Vibrio cholerae bacilli. Between 0 and 2 cases of cholera have been declared each year in France since 2000, and concern travelers returning from endemic areas.