An Appraisal of Water Availability, Infrastructures for Faecal Disposal and the Potential of Spread of Infectious Diseases in the Traveling Agencies and Motor Parks in the City of Yaounde (Cameroon)

Abstract

The number of interurban and urban-rural travelers in the city of Yaounde has recently exceeded one hundred thousand per year, yet surprisingly few studies have assessed travelers’ behavior, illness, and risk factors in a sanitary risks setting. Particularly scarce are surveys of data spanning travel, return, and follow-up of the same cohort in traveling agencies and parks. This study examines behavior and illness among travelers moving from Yaounde to other urban and rural areas of Cameroon and beyond. Patterns of behavior con-nected to a type of travel and illness are characterized in this study so as to identify risks factors and provide background data for pre-travel advice in our traveling agencies. Assessing the susceptibility that imported cases could pose to the national response to infectious diseases depends both on public health, health services and infrastructures. The six agencies assessed: Nvan, Mokolo, Tongolo, Biyem Assi, Mimbowman and Etoudi reveal that the sanitary infrastructures for faecal and urinary disposal are not sufficient and more so, some agencies do not keep enough cleanliness, let alone provide adequate hand washing material as prescribed by national and international concerns to combat the global health challenges. This could be an impediment to travellers going out or inside of the city, and could be a preponderant mechanism for the spread of infectious disease as presented by the infectious diseases iso-lated and identified in the health districts around the travelling agencies.