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Cholera death toll in Ghanaian capital rises to 21

18 April 2012 23:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.The death toll from this year’s cholera outbreak in Ghana’s capital has risen from 17 to 21 out of 1,570 reported cases, a senior official of the health service said here on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Dr. Ato Eshun, the regional disease control officer who confirmed this to the local media, advised Ghanaians to quickly report such cases to the nearest hospital.

Poor sanitation in the city has been blamed for the outbreak.

Most homes in Ghana are without toilet facilities while the few that were previously available have been converted into rooms, shops and stores for rentals.

The authorities have cautioned residents to beware of the food and water they consume.

"We want to entreat the general public to adhere strictly to personal and environmental hygiene," she advised.

Ghana recorded 94 deaths out of 8,494 cases of cholera last year.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

It has a short incubation period of less than one to five days, and produces an enterotoxin that causes copious, painless, watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 120,000 people die each year from cholera.