Cholera beds (file photo): At least 50 cases of cholera have been registered in the northwestern region of Rwanda

KIGALI, 30 September 2009 (IRIN) - At least 50 cases of cholera have been registered in the northwestern region of Rwanda, the Health Ministry said on 29 September. No deaths were reported in the affected region, which had been free of the disease for a decade.

“Basic hygiene and lack of adequate sanitation in the region are described as the biggest issue, but medical experts and humanitarian staff have been deployed to outbreak areas," Gamariel Binamungu, director-general of the National Reference Laboratory, said. "All necessary medication is being provided to try to prevent the spread of the disease," he told IRIN.

"The humanitarian relief provided by the government and volunteers, including water purification chemicals and hygiene promotion material, means all outbreaks are under control," the mayor of Rusizi district (southwest), Fabien Sindayiheba, told IRIN.

"Poor hygiene is the main factor for the cholera outbreak, because local rivers are the main sources of water for most of families in the region," he said. "We have adopted measures to provide medical help to those infected people so they do not spread the disease to neighbouring villages," Sindayiheba noted.

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