According to a World Health Organization (WHO) official Monday, the cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea had struck 2,000 people, with poor water sanitation making it difficult to contain the disease.

WHO representative Eigil Sorensen said the first cholera outbreak to affect the country in 50-years first emerged in the province of northern Morobe last July, spreading along the north coast within months to Madang and East Sepik. The transmission is ongoing in all three provinces and gradually spreading, with 2,000 confirmed cholera cases.

The number of deaths at fewer than 50 have remained modest, however, the disease continues to infect people, spreading due to poor water supplies, including those with no cholera symptoms travelling around and spreading the disease to new areas.

Many areas of Papua New Guinea seem to provide ideal conditions for the spread of the disease, particularly the crowded settlements on the outskirts of cities, which have no proper sewage systems.

From a public health perspective, it is extremely important to address the water issue, with more involvement from the government, else there is a high risk of cholera spreading to other provinces and becoming endemic in Papua New Guinea.

A water-borne disease, cholera is also transmittable by food that has been in contact with sewage. The disease causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to dehydration and untreated can even prove fatal in time.