Five cases of typhoid fever have been registered in the southern Khatlon province. The disease was apparently caused by sewage going into the Vakhsh River.
Lavatories have been built along the river bank and sewage has been flowing into the river, water of which people have used for drinking.
The Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population, Nasim Olimzoda, has confirmed the fact of registration of cases of typhoid fever in Khatlon province.
“Indeed, five cases of typhoid fever have been registered in the Bokhtar district, but epidemic is out of the question,” the minister told reporters in Dushanbe on July 12.
According to him, a special commission has been set up to closely monitor the situation. “All necessary measures have been taken to stop the spread of the disease,” Olimzoda noted.
“The disease was caused by sewage going into the Vakhsh River. Several lavatories have been built along the river bank and sewage has been flowing into the river, water of which people have used for drinking,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Khatlon directorate for health and social protection of the population, Sadullo Mallazoda, has told Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service that 70 people were hospitalized on suspicion of having contracted the disease.
The first cases of typhoid fever were reportedly registered in late June.
