Traders and communities in and around Lilongwe are on high alert, following revelations that the cholera outbreak in the city has now hit \u2018devil\u2019 street, a popular red light spot for fun revelers.
\nThe place is usually full of activity, especially at night, owing to the several bars and lodges dotted along the street, which lies behind the Lilongwe produce market and main bus terminal.
\nNot only does it serve the local population but also those from Tanzania, Zambia and Burundi, with buses plying between Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi using the location as their take off place.
\nSources at Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) have told Malawi News that since the outbreak of the disease in Lilongwe, Bwaila hospital has been treating about five to six people who are staying or plying their businesses from \u2018devil\u2019 street.
\nThey also believe the source of the Cholera outbreak in Lilongwe City is the same area, as people travelling from Tanzania and Zambia, where the outbreak continues to claim a lot of lives, are not properly screened.
\nWhen contacted, Lilongwe District health Officer Alinafe Mbewe however told Malawi News that only one case was recorded from the street and the patient was discharged.
\nWhen quizzed as to why her office is disinfecting lodges and rest houses along the street, Mbewe said all her office did is to intervene and prevent the spread of the outbreak.
\n\u201cWe are handling all cholera cases within the district and all health facilities are on the alert to monitor the situation,\u201d she said.
\nShe disclosed that they have designated camps within the district and they are providing awareness and sensitization.
\nAccording to Mbewe, as of Wednesday, Bwaila District Hospital had treated about 39 cases of cholera and two of the patients were still admitted at the hospital.
\nMalawi Healthy Equity Network Executive director Gorge Jobe has stressed on the need to give \u2018Devil\u2019 Street and other entry points the needed attention.
\nHe adds that the Lilongwe City Assembly and Ministry of Health should combat congestions in lodging places at the street and that those coming from Tanzania and Zambia should either be observed for any Cholera signs or be given antibiotics right away. \u201cWe need Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) stationed at the Devil Street and all entry point \u201csaid Jobe.
\nMinister of Health and Population Atupele Muluzi recently said although the
\nCholera situation is worsening, it has not yet reached the stage where it can be regarded as an epidemic.
\nHe said many people are still not applying basic measures of hygiene at home and this was a contributing factor to the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Traders and communities in and around Lilongwe are on high alert, following revelations that the cholera outbreak in the city has now hit \u2018devil\u2019 street, a popular red light spot for fun revelers. The place is usually full of activity, especially at night, owing to the several bars and lodges dotted along the street, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59352,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59348\/revisions\/59352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}