Empty hospital beds in Rwanda show cholera epidemic is fading

Published: 2006-01-10

KIGALI, Rwanda (CNS) -- Many of the beds set up to deal with a cholera epidemic at the Masaka Health Center are empty. But Joyce Ngoma, a nurse at the church-supported health center on the outskirts of the Rwandan capital, said the empty beds are a recent development. "The other day it was full," she said Jan. 10 while taking a break from treating some of the more seriously ill patients at the health center. A deadly cholera outbreak hit Masaka Dec. 29 and was declared an epidemic by the Rwandan Health Ministry Jan. 2. The outbreak, which has since spread to surrounding areas and reportedly as far away as Ruhengeri in Rwanda's northwest, killed nearly 20 people. None died at the Masaka Health Center. At the height of the outbreak, Ngoma said, the Masaka Health Center filled all 250 beds set up to deal with the outbreak. On Jan. 10, there were only 25 cholera patients, and only four were dehydrated enough to require intravenous fluids.

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