Mamoudzou: Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean, reported its first locally acquired cases of cholera on Friday, in addition to 10 imported cases detected in the past month.

ARS Health Authority Said that the three new patients were probably infected through contact with a sick person who had failed to seek treatment.

Cholera is an infectious disease that usually causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle cramps and spreads easily. inadequate sanitary conditions,

ARS director Olivier Brahic told a news conference that three cases were found in the Koungou region in the north-east of the island. They are a woman, a man and a child, who are not related to each other.

Brahic said a campaign to identify further cases, administer antibiotics and vaccinate people in the region would begin soon. additional medical staff Was expected to arrive on Saturday.

Mayotte’s last 10 cases came from elsewhere on the island, mostly from neighboring Comoros which is struggling with the pandemic. cholera epidemic Since the beginning of the year.

Many migrants travel through Comoros on their way to Mayotte Democratic Republic of CongoIt is facing a cholera epidemic that killed hundreds of people last year.

Mayotte is France’s 101st and poorest administrative region And anti-immigrant group Protests have erupted against the new arrivals despite Paris’ pledge to tighten citizenship rules.

Part of the Comoros archipelago, Mayotte voted to remain part of France in 1974, when the other three islands sought and won independence.