Cholera continues to claim lives in Badakhshan

FAIZABAD (PAN): Two children have died of cholera in a village in northern Badakhshan province, with the infection spreading to another nearby village, amid official claims the outbreak has been controlled.

The outbreak that first appeared in the mountainous village of Chappa in the Darayen district infected 1,492 people and killed a young woman and left another 100 in critical condition, according to local officials.

Later, the Public Health Ministry announced the outbreak had been controlled and the affected village quarantined.

However, the governor’s spokesman, Abdul Maroof Rasikh, told Pajhwok Afghan News the epidemic had reoccurred, killing two children in the Chappa village.

He said the number of those infected had reached 1500 and 100 of them in critical condition had been taken to a hospital in Faizadad, the provincial capital.

He said the outbreak had spread to another village called Zark, where 25 people had been infected.

He said if the epidemic was not brought under control, it could spread to other areas and could result into a humanitarian crisis.

Badakhshan Public Health Director Noor Mohammad Khawari confirmed the number of the infected people, but said the outbreak had been controlled and there was nothing to worry about.

Rasikh said the source of the infection had been traced to a single spring of water that supplies the entire town’s drinking water. Health authorities were bringing in water from nearby towns until the problem was solved.

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