Cholera on rise in Jawzjan, 12 dead, many infected

SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): As many as 18,000 people have been infected by cholera virus and a dozen of them died during the past two weeks in four districts of northern Jawzjan province, an official said Saturday.

Public Health Director Qari Abdul GhaniSamim told Pajhwok Afghan News five health teams had been dispatched to the four affected districts in order to curtail the further spread of the water-borne disease.

He said Aqcha, Manjigak, Mardyan, Khaniqa and Faizabad were the affected districts and asked the residents to observe hygiene rules and not to drink from polluted water reservoirs.

He said five health teams, organized by the Solidarity for Afghan families (SAF) and funded by the United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF), had been sent to the affected districts to provide health services and awareness against cholera disease to the inhabitants.

Doctor Aria Bawar, the provincial director of SAF, said that cholera was an infectious, diarrheal disease that spreads when people ignore hygiene-related basic practices.

Bawar added that some other additional teams have been also dispatched to affected districts to give the people awareness about the disease and the use of water from clean reservoirs.

A resident of Aqcha district, Shahzada, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “My two children are under medical treatment after they were infected by cholera, we have no access to clean water, we use pool water”. Right now the pool water has been sprayed by health personnel with chlorine to disinfect it.

Khair Mohammad, from Khaniqa district, said he was concerned about the rise of the disease because it had infected many people and asked for awareness among the people about the virus.

AW/nh/ma