Kampala, June 17 (IANS) At least 10 people died and 20 were hospitalised after a cholera epidemic broke out in Uganda’s Kayunga district, officials said Thursday.
The epidemic that broke out June 4 at the Kawongo landing site was due to poor sanitation, Edrisa Musisi, district health officer, said.
‘The hygienic conditions at the site are very poor. There are no latrines. People defecate in the bushes and water streams,’ Musisi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
‘The situation is made worse as people bath in the lake, use the same water for drinking and cooking,’ he said.
Musisi said the district authorities would enact laws to ensure that each family has a properly-constructed latrine to control the spread of the disease.
Health workers have been sent to the site to sensitise the population on the dangers of living in dirty places and consuming contaminated water, he said.
A similar cholera outbreak in May in Moroto district left nine people dead and over 65 were hospitalised.
