KAMPALA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Nine refugees were confirmed dead on Thursday morning and more than 300 people were isolated in several health centers due to a cholera outbreak in Uganda, local authorities said.
The outbreak occurred in Hoima District, 230 km northwest of the capital Kampala, where most of the refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are settled.
So far thousands of refugees have fled the DRC following tribal clashes in the country's eastern region.
Fred Kugonza, the Hoima District disease surveillance officer, told Xinhua on Thursday morning that "the outbreak is still going on although we have made some interventions."
"There is so much influx of refugees from Congo. Even yesterday I was at the Sebigoro landing site and many of them were yet to be transferred to the settlement camp in Kyangwali," Kugonza said.
The health officer said that refugee influx caused the cholera outbreak as "no case of local residents has been reported so far."
Uganda's Ministry of Health is expected to make an official announcement about the cholera outbreak, according to Kugonza.