Dushanbe, 3 March 1997 (RFE/RL) - A typhoid fever outbreak in Tajikistan appears to be subsiding.
Our correspondent reports today that the number of people stricken with the disease and the number of deaths it has caused had dropped in recent days. He said about 60 to 70 people were being hospitalized daily. By comparison, up to 360 people were taken to hospital with typhoid fever just last week. More than 40 people have already died as a result of the disease.
The head of the State Committee tackling the outbreak told our correspondent that some 2,500 people have been hospitalized with typhoid, with most (70 percent) being children and teenagers.
Our correspondent says the Red Cross has donated 60 tons of chlorine to Dushanbe to disinfect the drinking water. But he says most of the chlorine has ended up on the black market.