Kivu Lake not to exploit due to spreading cholera disease

This disease is said to have spread from Karongi district in Western Province since few days ago and due to this authorities decided to close the Kivu Lake over all fishing and navigating activities to avoid more contamination. Its new opening will be made known in the near future.

The representative of the Rwanda Agriculture Board in the Western Province, Jeannine Nuwumuremyi told Umuseke that the decision was made to stop the deadly cholera that is was seemingly spreading towards the rest of the sub-region.

The dead bodies of fishes called Isambaza left in the shores of the Kivu Lake are mostly considered as the root cause of the issue.

For her the decision is taken as a emergency one to deal with such deadly disease.

Since yesterday, none is allowed to use the water of Kivu Lake before further decision from concerned bodies.

Normally Kivu Lake closes its shores twice a year allow the ‘isambaza’ grow at a mature age for consumption.

Fishers in the region said the decision was taken without informing them and would like to be consulted on the issue.

Health officials told Umuseke the disease was spreading at an alarming speed and, as locals use water they fetch from the Kivu Lake, this would cause calamity.

Statistics of the contaminated ones kept increasing, thus calling for immediate decision to stop it.

Within five days, three people dead and this was a vibrant indicator that the disease was getting epidemic.

UM– USEKE.RW