France's health secretary said on Thursday that the response to the cholera outbreak on the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte was “adequate”, a day after the first cholera-related death.
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During his long-awaited visit to the island, French Health Minister Frédéric Balletout met with a team of ARS health authorities, who are responsible for containing outbreaks as soon as an infection is suspected.
“The epidemic started in the Comoros a month and a half ago, and now there are thousands of cases and nearly 100 deaths,” Baretout said.
“We can see that Mayotte's response is appropriate,” the minister added during a visit to the Kilson district of Kungu city, where at least 50 cholera cases have been reported so far.
On Wednesday, a three-year-old girl in the commune of Congu died, the first death on the island from the disease.
Cholera is an infectious disease that usually causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle spasms and is easily spread under poor sanitation conditions.
Mayotte's imported cases mainly come from neighboring Comoros, which has been battling a cholera outbreak since the beginning of the year.
On May 1, Baretout said France had sent an additional 18 doctors and nurses to Mayotte to join the reservists already active there to help tackle the outbreak. Announced.
“The public's receptivity has been very high, so we're distributing antibiotics and vaccinating as many people as possible,” said Olivia Noel, a reservist and local coordinator.
According to ARS, as of May 6, there were 58 confirmed cases of cholera on the island and more than 2,600 people had been vaccinated thanks to the ongoing vaccination campaign.
Many migrants are passing through the Comoros on their way to Mayotte from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is facing a cholera outbreak that killed hundreds last year.
Mayotte is France's 101st poorest borough, and anti-immigrant groups have launched protests against new arrivals despite Paris' pledge to tighten citizenship rules.
Mayotte, part of the Comoros archipelago, voted to remain part of France in 1974, when three other islands sought and won independence.
(AFP)
