INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Three hundred people have reportedly been hospitalized and are being treated for cholera in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, officials said
Tuesday.The death toll has not yet been confirmed but on Sunday reports indicated at least 20 people had died in Helmand.Residents of
Baghran district in Helmand meanwhile said in a telephone conversation on Tuesday that more than 20 people had died from the bacterial
disease in their district alone.According to doctors at Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar province, 180 patients are currently being treated for
the disease.Almost 180 cholera patients, including children are hospitalized in this hospital,& said Sawgul Nawzadi, head of the academic
council at Mirwais Hospital.In the meantime, Kandahar Public Health Department officials said that the exact number of deaths caused by the
cholera outbreak is not yet known, but that almost 120 patients have been taken to hospital from the remote areas of Baghran
district.Meanwhile, Ministry of Public Health officials said that the cholera outbreak has been reported in Baghran and Shah Wali Kot
districts and has been attributed to the lack of clean water and eating contaminated food.The main cause is that residents do not have
access to clean water; another reason could be unhealthy foods; fortunately, the hospitalized patients are getting treatment,& said Sharafat
Zamani, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.Residents of Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar, who brought infected family members
to Mirwais Hospital, also said that the main reason for the spread of cholera in their area is the lack of clean water.We don''t have access
to clean water, also the weather is too hot, the cause is due to lack of clean water,& said Dost Mohammad, a resident of Shah Wali Kot.Two
months ago, a number of residents of Zabul province also died in a cholera outbreak.The post Cholera cases rise to about 300 in Kandahar and
Helmand first appeared on Ariana News.