The Ministry of Health in Tajikistan will supervise the quality of water in the border areas of the Pyanj River and regions of Khatlon bordering Afghanistan, according to a report by Asia Plus.
This initiative is in response to registered cases of cholera in Afghanistan, stated Navruz Jafarov, the deputy head of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Service of the Ministry of Health.
“The main reason for the inspections is the cholera outbreak in Afghanistan. The disease has affected the provinces of Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar, and Badakhshan, including areas bordering Tajikistan. The water in the Pyanj River in these border areas is under the supervision of the Republican Quarantine Diseases Center,” Jafarov noted.
A large-scale inspection of open water sources in the Khatlon border areas began on June 3. Experts are taking water samples and conducting tests to prevent the possible spread of infection.
“We have five rivers that cross the border with Afghanistan. If floods or sewage from Afghan villages enter these rivers, an infection may spread,” a representative of the Ministry of Health said.
The Ministry will also monitor cases of locals hospitalized with various intestinal diseases in the Khatlon region, the official added.
