The cholera epidemic has been spreading in Mayotte since mid-March. This acute diarrheal infection even caused the first death on Wednesday May 8, announced the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency. It concerns a three-year-old child, in the commune of Koungou. This Thursday, May 9, the Minister responsible for Health Frédéric Valletoux wanted to be reassuring during a trip to the island. According to him, the response provided by the authorities is “adequate”. As a reminder, cholera is caught by consuming food or water contaminated by bacteria. This disease causes accelerated dehydration and if left untreated, it can be fatal within 1 to 3 days.
“In the Comoros, the epidemic started a month and a half earlier, but today, there are thousands of cases and almost a hundred deaths,” he compared during his visit to the Kirson district of Koungou , where at least fifty cases of cholera have been declared to date.
What do we know about the situation in Mayotte?
According to the latest report from the Regional Health Agency, 58 cases were identified. That’s almost 30 more in a week. On Wednesday, May 8, a three-year-old girl died of the disease. This is the first death from cholera recorded on French soil. But there are potentially many more cases, because three-quarters of infected people show no symptoms. They can still transmit the infection to others.
The first cases appeared in Mahorais returning from the Comoros, the nearest neighboring island. A cholera epidemic has been raging there since the beginning of the year. Nearly 5,000 cases have been recorded and 98 people have died. According to health authorities, the majority of cases in Mayotte are now due to transmission directly on the island.
Cholera usually spreads in poor or unstable areas. In Mayotte, the health situation is alarming. Many residents live in unsanitary conditions, sometimes in slums. Because Mayotte is facing a water crisis, since 2022, global warming has caused repeated droughts. Concretely, a third of the population does not have drinking water at home and for the other two thirds, the water is cut off every other day. All this pushes residents to drink water that is often unfit for consumption, a breeding ground for the transmission of cholera. Moreover, waste collection is not systematic and the streetsbeaches are often found littered with trash that can carry diseases.
What response from the authorities?
Beyond the fear of being contaminated, the Mahorais especially feel abandoned by the French state. They warn about their health system, already at the end of its rope. There is only one hospital for more than 300,000 inhabitants. The emergency room only has five doctors and the SAMU can no longer operate, because there are no longer enough caregivers to transport patients.
Reinforcements were sent, 67 reserve doctors and nurses, two cholera units have been set up. A vaccination campaign has also been launched, with priority in the most unsanitary neighborhoods. So far, 4,000 contact cases have been vaccinated, but there are not enough doses for everyone on the island.
Read more
