BAJAUR: A large number of people have been infected with cholera in the remote Barang tehsil of Bajaur district.

Residents, Rescue 1122 and health officials said on Wednesday that at least 287 people had become sick due to the water-borne disease in Asil Targaoo area.

Residents said that cholera broke out after people, mostly children, consumed rainwater.

“Scores of people, mostly children, in Asil Targaoo locality have been affected by cholera after they drank rainwater,” said a local, Ajaml Khan. The villagers said that most of the patients had been shifted to a local hospital for treatment, whose condition was out of danger.

In a statement, Rescue 1122 in Khar said that 150 patients were provided with first aid before being shifted to hospital. It said that a team of medical technicians was immediately dispatched to the affected area soon after its control room had received information about the outbreak of cholera from local residents.

Meanwhile, Dr Shafiq Khan, the field supervisor medical officer of the local health department, told Dawn on contact that a total 287 people had been infected with cholera since Friday. He said that many of the affected people had been shifted to hospital.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2022