MAMOUDZOU: Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean, on Friday reported its first local cases of cholera.
The island authorities last month had reported 10 imported cases of the disease.
According to the ARS health authority, the three new cases were most likely contaminated through contact with a sick person who failed to receive the treatment.
Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe diarrhea, vomiting and cramps and can be spread easily under poor sanitation conditions.
ARS director Olivier Brahic told a media briefing that the three cases were found in the region of Koungou in the northeast part of the island. He said the cases include a woman, a man and a baby, who are not related to each other.
He said that a campaign to detect more cases, provide antibiotics and vaccinate people in the area would start shortly. The additional medical staff is expected to reach the affected area on Saturday.
Mayotte’s 10 last cases arrived on the island from other areas, mostly from the neighbouring Comoros which has been fighting a cholera outbreak since the beginning of the year.
Many migrants travel through the Comoros from the Democratic Republic of Congo while on their way to Mayotte. DR Congo is itself facing a cholera outbreak that killed hundreds last year.
Mayotte is France’s 101st administrative region and anti-immigrant groups have started protests against new arrivals despite a pledge from Paris to tighten citizenship laws.
Mayotte voted to be part of France in 1974 when the other three islands won independence.
