26 Dead in Angola Due to Cholera Outbreak

Cholera has left 26 dead and 1,450 cases so far this year in several provinces of Angola, said the national director of Public Health, Isilda Neves, quoted today by the main news reports.

Such announcements were made by the official on Saturday when she spearheaded the start of a campaign against cholera and malaria (the leading cause of death in the country) in the municipality of Funda, in the capital of Cacuaco, as part of an initiative of the Maiombe Environmental Network.

Neves said that up to June 20 deaths were reported (in 1,370 cases) and in Luanda during July and so far in August there have been 13 positive cases (80 suspects) and six deaths.

Besides



the capital, Cabinda, Zaire, Uige and Cuanza North are affected.

The communities will be sensitive to cholera, malaria, yellow fever and other endemic diseases, said Soares do Nascimento, from the Ministry of Environment, who is also participating in the Network.

In addition, the Provincial Health Cabinet in Luanda is keeping a record of cases of these and other diseases such as rabies in the Belo Monte neighborhood and spraying the shores of Lake Kilunda to kill mosquito larvae, which cause malaria and yellow fever.

Angola annually reports some 15,000 deaths from malaria and at the end of 2015, until June 2016, it suffered a yellow fever epidemic with 381 deaths.