Ambulances in Tripoli on Nov. 27, 2022. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
A total of 19 elderly people were evacuated from a nursing home in Tripoli after contracting cholera, a source from the Lebanese Ministry of Health told L'Orient Today on Monday.
On Sunday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health had said that 14 elderly people were taken to the hospital for treatment and are currently in stable condition.
Following the news of the urgent hospitalization, the Health Ministry dispatched a team to the nursing home to conduct rapid tests to identify the residents' illness. These revealed they were suffering from cholera, a disease that reappeared in Lebanon in October for the first time in 30 years.
"The patients suffering from diarrhea were isolated and 14 people were hospitalized at the government hospital in Tripoli as a precautionary measure," the ministry said in a statement issued Sunday evening.
Earlier, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region had reported 20 hospitalizations among the nursing home's residents.
"The condition of these people is stable," the ministry added.
"The other people who do not have symptoms, or who were not contaminated, have begun to be vaccinated" against the disease, the ministry added, specifying this group comprises 250 elderly people.
Caution
The Health Ministry has also taken samples of water and food from the nursing home to establish the origin of the contamination.
It has called on the population to be cautious about cholera.
"The epidemic is not over, despite the efforts made in the last two months that have limited the contamination," it said, calling for compliance with preventive hygiene measures, such as drinking only clean water, disinfecting fruits and vegetables and getting vaccinated, "especially in the targeted areas."
The first phase of the ministry's vaccination campaign is focused on North Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. More than 400,000 people have been vaccinated so far, according to a report published on Sunday night.
In this report, the ministry also announced a new case officially recorded during the previous 24 hours but no new deaths.
In total, the disease has caused 20 deaths and contaminated 601 people in recent weeks since it was first detected on Oct. 5.
Cholera is usually caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, often found in feces. Infected people may suffer from acute diarrhea, but the disease may also be asymptomatic.
