Cholera outbreak spreads to Mwanza killing 8
According to experts poor sanitation and the high number of street food vendors are said to perpetuate the spread of cholera.
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Medics are worried that the city could be just as vulnerable to the outbreak as Dar es Salaam due to its dense population and the ever growing number of street venders selling fruits and vegetables, which in combination with unsanitary conditions could be a fertile breading ground for the disease.
Mwanza. Tanzania’s cholera outbreak which has killed at least 36 people in Dar es Salaam and is spreading up country into Singida has now been reported in Mwanza Region where it has been recently confirmed that eight people have already died from the water born bacterial disease.
Medics are worried that the city could be just as vulnerable to the outbreak as Dar es Salaam due to its dense population and the ever growing number of street venders selling fruits and vegetables, which in combination with unsanitary conditions could be a fertile breading ground for the disease.
As soon as the disease was noticed in Dar es Salaam, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the city authorities ordered street food vendors to suspend their operations in an effort to eliminate the waterborne disease, an order which has been ignored so far.
Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) Inspector for Lake Zone, Mr Deus Mlenga, said with the growing demand for food services from the local vendors among most city dwellers, chances that cholera will affect many were high.
“Street food vendors are mobile…today may be found working somewhere but tomorrow they move to another place,” he explained.
He added that low income earners living near the street cafes have contributed to the booming of the business and they continue supporting the illegal activities despite being aware that TFDA is against the business.
