BY CHINSINSI CHEKETA
Fear has mounted communities around Kamtunda village, Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota district following a suspected cholera case registered in the area on Friday.
Confirming the development on Saturday, Nkhotakota district hospital’s publicist Justice Malunga said, the suspected eight year old girl is now quarantined at the facility.
Malunga said, he could not confirm that the disease is Cholera, because Cholera is confirmed through a laboratory test, and the hospital is still waiting for laboratory results from Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe.
“You should not to be under panic, our medical officials are well equipped to contain the disease if it hits further, and some health personnel have gone to the village for surveillance” said Malunga.
When contacted, Linga-Sani ward councilor Tobias Banda whose area the suspected girl resides said, he will gear-up to sensitizing communities on the need to follow sanitary measures.
He therefore asked different stakeholders to join hands in sensitizing the communities to follow best sanitary practices before the out bread spreads further to others areas, arguing that, there is high likelihood for the disease to hit further due to lack of sanitation in lake shore villages.
When asked for a laboratory report on the case, spokesperson for ministry of heath Joshua Malango requested for time, saying a Cholera test in the laboratory takes 48 hours for the results to be out.
The negative outcome of the laboratory results will break the district’s 12 years history of not recording any Cholera case, which was attributed to a strict follow of sanitary and hygienic measures among communities in the district.
