Aid workers struggle as cholera starts to take hold of Burundi refugees

Humanitarian agencies are struggling to cope as tens of thousands of Burundian refugees stranded on Kagunga Island in Tanzania face worsening medical conditions. UNICEF officials told Al Jazeera on Thursday that conditions at Kagunga were “tough” and that a cholera outbreak had made conditions even more dire. At least 33 people have died, with 27 deaths believed to have been cholera related. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared cholera a level 1 emergency in the region on Wednesday. "It is very, very tough in Kagunga, and our focus now is to try and save those living in these very poor conditions,“ said Thomas Lyimo, a health officer at UNICEF.

We have enough drugs and we are putting our resources into this and ensuring this does not spread.

Christopher Kamugusha, programme officer for WHO

Christopher Kamugusha, programme officer for WHO in Tanzania said it was now a matter of case management and establishing a treatment centre in Kagunga. Authorities say there are just 94 latrines for use by the 70,000 people currently in the fishing village of Kagunga. The arrival of so many refugees in a village with a population of no more than 11,000 has overburdened every health and social service facility. "It is better than earlier, and it is in a manageable state, but there is so much to be done,” Lyimo said.

Africa Burundi