GABORONE, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Botswana has recorded its first-ever suspected case of cholera, health authorities in the southern African country said Thursday.
Botswanan Minister of Health Edwin Dikoloti made the announcement when addressing journalists after touring Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital, the only referral health facility in the northeastern part of Botswana.
"It is suspected that a probable case of cholera has been detected," Dikoloti told journalists in Francistown, Botswana's second-largest city.
Dikoloti said a 65-year-old of a shanty and high-density suburb of Somerset in Francistown is suspected of having contracted the waterborne disease from a yet-to-be-ascertained source. The suspected patient has been frequenting health facilities in Botswana, presenting diarrheal symptoms in a development that prompted authorities to conduct further tests.
According to Dikoloti, authorities are awaiting laboratory tests to confirm if the patient has indeed contracted cholera.
A global surge of cholera cases has put 1 billion people in 43 countries at risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned early this year. ■