Cholera in Mayotte: we explain the status of the epidemic which caused the first death on the island
The cholera epidemic claimed its first victim in Mayotte. A 3-year-old child died on Wednesday May 8, announced the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency (ARS) in a press release. This fatal case occurred on the eve of the visit of Minister of Health Frédéric Valletoux. The first cases of this disease were recorded in mid-March on the island, among people returning from neighboring Comoros, where the epidemic is surging with 98 deaths, according to the latest official report. Here is what we know about the health situation in 101e French department.
This is the first death recorded in the territory since the detection of a first case, March 19. The child lived in the Koungou district, where “several cases of cholera had been identified in recent weeks”explains the press release from the local authorities, and where the ARS had deployed a screening center and mobile vaccination units. “The intervention teams went to the site to treat those close to the child”they specify.
At the microphone of France Inter, the Liot deputy for the first constituency of Mayotte, Estelle Youssouffa, declared on Wednesday that it is “tragic to think that a child died of cholera in a slum in a French department in 2024. What is even more serious is that we saw it coming”she laments. “We are always faced with authorities who are late, who minimize”, regrets the chosen one. She recalled the situation on site: “We always have water cuts” And “a single hospital with five emergency doctors”. An observation which highlights “the entire population in danger”according to her.
Cholera is an illness caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. Three-quarters of infected people express no symptoms. But when it manifests, the disease can be formidable for 10 to 20% of cases, with severe diarrhea and vomiting which cause accelerated dehydration. In the absence of treatment (rehydration salts and antibiotics), cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal infectious diseases: death can occur within one to three days.
At this stage, 58 cases have been identified on the island, according to a newsletter of the ARS established Monday, before the announcement of the child’s death. There were only 10 listed on April 15, after a first case detected on March 19. This outbreak comes as a major epidemic is underway in the neighboring archipelago of the Comoros, where there have been 98 deaths and more than 4,900 cases since the start of the year.
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