QUETTA: At least 10 people, including women and children, have died in Balochistan’s Zhob and Khuzdar districts due to an outbreak of cholera in the flood-affected areas over the past week, health officials said on Saturday.

World Health Organisa­tion (WHO) officials raised the alarm, saying that there was an epidemic of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) in 16 districts of Balochistan.

More than 1,300 people have been infected, while seven have died in Zhob district over the last ten days, according to WHO.

Health officials said that number of cholera patients was increasing in Khuzdar district hospital, where people are arriving from several nearby villages.

According to Dr Saifur Re­­hman, more than 100 patie­n­­ts have been admitted to the hospital during last few days.

The situation is not much different in Zhob, where sev­en patients suffering from cholera have lost their lives, according to Zhob Dis­trict Hospital Medical Sup­erin­te­ndent Dr Noor-Ul-Haq.

Provincial Health Minis­ter Syed Ehsan Shah has taken notice of the outbreak and directed health officials to take all possible steps to provide treatment facilities to patients.

According to Mr Shah, special medical teams are being sent to affected areas to bring the cholera outbreak under control.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2022