Cholera Outbreak: Medics call for restricted movement of Congolese refugees in Hoima

Hoima district disease surveillance officer , Dr Fred Kugonza has called for the restricted movement of Congolese refugees in the district.

The call follows reports of an outbreak of Cholera which has now claimed more than 25 lives within refugee communities in Kyangwali, Hoima district.

Reports indicate that, up to 627 cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) have so far been identified among thousands of refugees, who entered Uganda through Kaiso, Sebagoro, Nsonga and Bugoma landing sites and settled in parts of Hoima.

They are tribal fighting between the Bagegere and the Lendu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But Kugonza cautions that, communities along the shores of Lake Albert in Hoima district, are at a risk of contracting cholera.

He pointed out the areas of Kigorobya, Kabwoya, Buseruka and Kyangwali, where refugees have settled, among communities.

Kugonza says, such refugees need to be forced to join their counterparts in the camps, until the spread of cholera has been contained.