Second person dies of cholera on French island of Mayotte

A 62-year-old woman has died of cholera in Mayotte, bringing to two the death toll from the epidemic on the French island in the Indian Ocean, health authorities said on Sunday.

The woman died on Saturday at her home in Mamoudzou, the capital, the ARS health authority said in a statement.

“Response teams went to the scene to disinfect the home and take care of the deceased’s family and friends”, the statement added.

In May, the disease claimed its first life on the island when a three-year-old girl from the commune of Koungou died.

Cholera is an infectious disease typically causing severe diarrhea, vomiting and muscle cramps, which spreads easily under insufficient sanitation conditions.

In late April, Mayotte reported its first locally acquired cases of cholera, in addition to 10 imported cases detected over the past month.

Mayotte’s 10 previous cases arrived on the island from elsewhere, mostly from the neighboring Comoros which has been battling a cholera epidemic since the start of the year.

Mayotte is France’s 101st and poorest administrative region and anti-immigrant groups have launched protests against new arrivals despite a vow from Paris to tighten citizenship rules.