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CHOLERA, DIARRHEA & DYSENTERY UPDATE 2009 (22)
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
In this update:
Africa
[1] Cholera - Afghanistan
[2], [3] Cholera - Ethiopia
[4] Cholera - Kenya
[5] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Manicaland)
[6] Cholera - Nigeria (Adamawa)
Asia
[7] Cholera, shigellosis - Papua New Guinea
[8] Cholera - Papua New Guinea
[9] Cholera - India (Mumbai)
[10] Cholera - India (Gujarat)
[11] Cholera - Sri Lanka
[12] Cholera - Kuwait
*****
[1] Cholera - Afghanistan
Date: Sun 13 Sep 2009
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP) [edited]
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfXemSXl7hzhlIPSOUeW7mcHIxnw>
Afghanistan has reported outbreaks of potentially lethal cholera in
10 provinces across the impoverished country, the health ministry
said on Sunday [13 Sep 2009].
The ministry "has so far recorded 673 cases countrywide" of the
disease in almost 1/3rd of the country's 34 provinces, including in
the capital Kabul. No deaths have been reported. All outbreaks are
under control, and no active one is reported as of today, 13 Sep
2009," a ministry statement said.
It said staff had been deployed to outbreak areas and medication was
being provided to try to prevent the spread of the disease, which
thrives where sanitation is poor and can spread rapidly.
Afghanistan's health system has been battered by decades of civil
war, and facilities remain poor across the 5th poorest country in the world.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[A map of Afghanistan can be found at:
<http://geology.com/world/afghanistan-map.gif>. - Mod.LL]
******
[2] Cholera - Ethiopia
Date: Mon 7 Sep 2009
Source: Reuters [edited]
<http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5860HJ20090907?sp=true>
Cholera and other diarrheal diseases have infected 18 000 people in
Ethiopia over the last 3 weeks in many parts of the country,
including the capital Addis Ababa, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The document, minutes of a meeting attended by international health
charities and UN agencies last Tuesday [1 Sep 2009], said half of
moderate-to-severe cases of the 18 000 infections were cholera. It
did not say how many were moderate-to-severe. Most of the diarrheal
illnesses that were not cholera were acute watery diarrhea (AWD),
health workers said [often used as a euphemism for cholera - Mod.LL].
"To date, there are approximately 14 000 cases of AWD/Cholera (in the
regions) and an additional 4000 from Addis Ababa," the minutes of the
meeting said.
Addis Ababa usually suffers less from diarrhea epidemics than other
parts of the country, but the city's health authorities are
investigating the hygiene standards of hundreds of hotels and
restaurants, according to local media.
Health workers, who declined to be named, told Reuters the fatality
rate was 2 percent when the outbreak began but that it had been
reduced as local and international agencies stepped up their
response. "The case fatality rate is falling as the response
matures," the minutes of the meeting said. "The epidemic is now in
its 2nd phase, case load taking the form of a series of peaks over a
protracted period."
Ethiopia's Health Ministry said last week that 34 people had died
from AWD but it had not yet confirmed any cholera cases.
Aid agencies now fear a religious festival scheduled for this month
[September 2009] will worsen the outbreak of AWD and cholera. "The
Meskel religious festival (is a) major cause for concern," the
document said. "Up to 500 000 people are expected to gather for 10
days from 15-30 Sep 2009 with poor access to safe drinking water and
sanitation facilities."
Some governments in Africa are often reluctant to admit to the
presence of cholera for fear it could hamper agricultural exports and tourism.
[Byline: Barry Malone]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[Addis Ababa and other regions of Ethiopia can be seen on a map at:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Ethiopia>. - Mod.LL]
******
[3] Cholera - Ethiopia
Date: Mon 7 Sep 2009
Source: UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) [edited]
<http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/NSPR-7VNJZV?OpenDocument>
Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) cases have been reported from all 10
sub-cities in Addis Ababa, with the highest caseload recorded from
Akaki/Kaliti, Addis Ketema, Arada and Kolfe, according to official
reports from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH). The outbreak also
continues to spread in other regions of the country, and new woredas
[administrative divisions] are reportedly affected in Amhara,
Oromiya, Dire Dawa and SNNPR. Between 17 and 23 Aug 2009 (34th
epidemiological week), a total of 2330 new cases of AWD and 22 deaths
with 0.9 per cent case fatality rate have been reported from 61
woredas and 10 sub-cities in Addis Ababa, Afar, Amhara, Somali,
Oromiya and SNNPR. The ongoing kiremt rains and the continuous
movement of pilgrims and migrant laborers to and from holy water
sites and private farms are contributing to the spread of the
disease. The re-opening of schools in mid-September 2009 also
requires special attention.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland
******
[4] Cholera - Kenya
Date: Mon 7 Sep 2009
Source: Daily Nation [edited]
<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/654600/-/umsm3k/-/>
Eight people have died of cholera in Laisamis, Marsabit, while 6
members of a Nairobi family are being treated for the disease at the
Kenyatta National Hospital. The 6 Nairobi family members contracted
the disease in Dandora Estate, Embakasi after drinking contaminated
water from a nearby well, the Public Health director, Dr Shanaaz
Shariff, said on Monday [7 Sep 2009].
Following the outbreak, a team of Public Health officials visited the
area and treated the contaminated water with chlorine tablets.
"As the water rationing continues to bite, I would like to appeal to
residents to observe basic hygiene standards and ensure they boil
drinking water at all times," Dr Shariff said. The rationing program
in the city is forcing some residents to use water from unknown or
contaminated sources.
At the same time, the drought being experienced in most parts of the
country has also led to a severe shortage of water, resulting in a
rise in cases of cholera and other water-borne diseases. According to
experts, more than 50 people have died from the killer disease in
various parts of the country in the past 6 months.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[The areas mentioned can be found on a map of Kenya at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/kenya.pdf>. - Mod.LL]
******
[5] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Manicaland)
Date: Tue 25 Aug 2009
Source: Voice of America [edited]
<http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-08-25-voa46.cfm>
Health experts in Zimbabwe are considering the implications of 12
cases of cholera confirmed this week in Chipinge district of eastern
Manicaland province some weeks after the Ministry of Health declared
that the deadly 2008-2009 cholera epidemic had run its course.
Health Minister Henry Madzorera has advised against alarm saying
Zimbabwe is much better prepared to deal with such outbreaks now than
it was at this time in 2008, when an epidemic began which eventually
took 4228 lives from more than 98 000 cases over 10 months.
Executive Director Itayi Rusike of the Community Working Group on
Health said the new cases show that while the epidemic has ended,
cholera is now endemic and a continuous threat, warning that the
onset of the rainy season could bring even more cases. Zimbabwe's
rainy season typically begins in October.
[Byline: Patience Rusere and Sandra Nyaira]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[The location of the eastern province of Manicaland can be found on a
map at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/zimbabwe.pdf>. - Mod.LL]
******
[6] Cholera - Nigeria (Adamawa)
Date: Sat 22 Aug 2009
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP) [edited]
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ju91MrepySKR59Kq5brdVUXc6_fw>
A cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed 13 more people,
taking the death toll to 52, the health commissioner said on Saturday
[22 Aug 2009]. "We recorded more cases of [the] cholera outbreak in
the state in the last 5 days," Zainab Baba Kwanci told AFP of the
outbreak in Adamawa state. "In Demsa, we have recorded 9 deaths,
while 120 people are hospitalized. In Fufure, we recorded 4 deaths
and 18 hospitalized."
39 people were reported killed by the disease in Maiha, according to
local government official Yahaya Hamman-Julde. He said "scores of
people" had been hospitalized as a result of the disease, stressing
that an ongoing strike by medical workers in the state was hampering
efforts to assist the sick.
Last September 2008, a spate of cholera outbreaks in northern Nigeria
claimed almost 100 lives in Katsina, Zamfara and Bauchi states.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[The northeastern state of Adamawa can be seen on a map of Nigeria
at: <http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/nigeria.pdf>. - Mod.LL]
******
[7] Cholera, shigellosis - Papua New Guinea
Date: Mon 7 Sep 2009
Source: IRIN [edited]
<http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=86035>
12 people have died from the 1st outbreak of cholera in 50 years in
Papua New Guinea (PNG), and the disease must be urgently contained
before it spreads further, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Eigil Sorensen, WHO's representative in Papua New Guinea, said
cholera appeared in 2 coastal villages in northern Morobe Province at
the end of July 2009 and gradually spread to 4 districts in the
province, but was not identified until a month later.
"Cholera hasn't been reported in Papua New Guinea for the last 50
years," Sorenson told IRIN, adding that the world health body was
investigating the cause of the outbreaks. It's a major concern,
mainly because the healthcare system in PNG remains weak. Rural
health services are quite weak. and if cholera becomes endemic, it
will become a major challenge," he said.
Of the 130 reported cases so far, there had been 12 deaths, Sorensen
said, and the disease appeared to be spreading through low level
transmission. "Since there is low level transmission and the number
of cases remains relatively low, we think there is no contamination
of any major water sources," he said. However, the disease has
appeared in Lae, the provincial capital, which Sorenson attributed to
people traveling from rural areas into the city.
Medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on 7 Sep 2009 that
Angau Hospital in Lae was on high alert over the cholera outbreak and
that it had helped the Ministry of Health establish a cholera
treatment center there. MSF's emergency team has sent 7 additional
staff, including 3 nurses and a water and sanitation specialist, to
assist in the urgent response.
Morobe Province has also been hit by unrelated outbreaks of
shigellosis, a bacterium that causes bloody diarrhea. Sorenson said
about 40 people might have died from shigella in the last month in
remote districts in Morobe.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[A map of Papua New Guinea can be seen at:
<http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Papua_New_Guinea_map.png>.
- Mod.LL]
******
[8] Cholera - Papua New Guinea
Date: Mon 31 Aug 2009
Source: BBC News [edited]
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8230018.stm>
An outbreak of cholera has reportedly killed more than 40 people in a
remote area of Papua New Guinea. Government officials said that
hundreds of other villagers in Morobe Province have fallen ill. A
World Health Organization medical team has confirmed the outbreak,
and PNG's health minister has ordered measures to contain its spread.
This is the 1st time the disease has officially been confirmed in the country.
The deaths are reported to have occurred in the remote Finsch-hafen
district of Morobe province on the northern coast of Papua New
Guinea. Officials said that up to 800 people have been taken ill.
--
Communicated by:
Scott E. Miller, Ph.D.
Deputy Under Secretary for Science
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC
<millers@si.edu>
[ProMED-mail thanks Dr. Miller for this posting. - Mod.LL]
*****
[9] Cholera - India (Mumbai)
Date: Fri 11 Sep 2009
Source: Express News Service [edited]
<http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kalbadevi-sees-spurt-in-cholera-cases-bmc-screens-residents/515597/>
The congested Kalbadevi area has witnessed a sudden increase in
cholera cases, with 9 persons from the locality already admitted to
hospitals in the last 2 days. The area houses an enormous amount of
contaminated water, one of the major causes of the disease. The
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started screening
residents in the area.
Until late Thursday evening [10 Sep 2009], 9 people were admitted to
Kasturba Hospital, while 2 were admitted to GT Hospital with cholera
symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhea and fever. The patients are
from Ramnath Sadan, a makeshift godown [a waterside warehouse -
Mod.LL] where a floating population of about 15 to 20 resides. All of
them tested positive for cholera in the hanging drop test to
ascertain the organism.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
A map of the southern city island of Mumbai (Bombay) can be seen at
<http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/maharashtra/mumbai-map.htm>. The
city's location on the western coast of India can be seen at
<http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/indian_subcontinent/india/india.htm>,
and the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/r/00BT>. - Mod.LL]
******
[10] Cholera - India (Gujarat)
Date: Fri 11 Sep 2009
Source: Express News Service [edited]
<http://www.indianexpress.com/news/one-cholera-case-reported-in-narmada-village-24-admitted/515635/>
A cholera case was reported from Lachras village of Narmada district
on Thursday [10 Sep 2009]. An 18-year-old youth treated at Rajpipla
Civil Hospital has been confirmed as a positive case of cholera.
Incidentally, 3 adults have died in the area in the last 3 days after
they complained of diarrhea.
Sources said 24 people from the area have been admitted to Civil
Hospital and Mehta Clinic in Rajpipla. While Dr Suman, Rajpipla Block
Health Officer, accepted that one cholera case has been reported at
Lachras, he refused to accept that the 3 died after drinking
contaminated water. While a post-mortem report of Tadvi revealed that
she suffered from heart disease, post-mortem of the other 2 could not be done.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[Vadodara District is a district in the eastern part of the state of
Gujarat in western India. The city of Vadodara (Baroda) is in the
western part of the district. Gujarat can be seen on a map at:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat>. - Mod.LL]
*****
[11] Cholera, - Sri Lanka
Date: Tue 1 Sep 2009
Source: Niadhasa News [edited]
<http://news.nidahasa.com/news.php?go=fullnews&newsid=881>
Peoples Liberation front (JVP) parliamentarian Bimal Rathnayake today
[1 Sep 2009]) said that the spread of cholera in the IDP camps in
Vavuniya has increased. Quoting a report released by the Disaster
Preparedness and Response Unit of the Health Ministry, he said most
of the IDP deaths were caused by pneumonia and cholera.
Meanwhile, aid groups say that Sphere standards [Humanitarian Charter
Minimum Standards in Disaster Response; see
<http://www.sphereproject.org>. - CopyEd.MSP] at IDP camps are being
undermined due to overcrowding. "We are missing Sphere standards by a
long way, particularly in the WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene]
cluster," David White, Oxfam's country director in Colombo, told
IRIN, citing instances where some people were going without water for
washing for up to 3 days.
"We're not even close," said another international aid worker. "With
the monsoon rains, it's going to get worse," he warned.
Close to 300 000 people languish in 30 government camps in Vavuniya,
Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
A map of the island nation of Sri Lanka can be found at:
<http://www.mapsofworld.com/sri-lanka/maps/sri-lanka-political-map.jpg>.
- Mod.LL]
******
[12] Cholera - Kuwait
Date: Wed 2 Sep 2009
Source: Kuwaiti Times [edited]
<http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzYwMzQ3Mjk5>
Preliminary tests conducted on seawater samples collected from
inshore areas along Kuwait's coasts have shown traces of the cholera
bacterium, according to medical experts. The Ministry of Health (MoH)
reportedly sent a doctor from its environmental health department to
take the samples for testing at its general health department, with
the tests finding traces of the deadly disease bacteria in them.
The presence of the cholera bacterium is believed to be due to the
recent dumping of raw, untreated sewage into the sea due to the
breakdown of the Mishref sewage plant.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
[see also:
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (21) 20090819.2939
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (20) 20090724.2616
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (19) 20090720.2575
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (18) 20090709.2469
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (17) 20090429.1620
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (16) 20090310.0991
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (15) 20090212.0632
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (14) 20090210.0604
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (13) 20090204.0491
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (12) 20090203.0474
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (11) 20090128.0393
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (10) 20090126.0355
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (09) 20090122.0275
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (08) 20090120.0245
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (07) 20090116.0182
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (06) 20090113.0140
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (05) 20090112.0124
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (04) 20090110.0107
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (03) 20090107.0061
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (02) 20090105.0038
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2009 (01) 20090102.0015
2008
----
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2008 (57) 20081231.4125
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2008 (50) 20081208.3854
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2008 (30) 20080702.2019
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2008 (10) 20080212.0563
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2008 (01) 20080104.0047
2007
----
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (67) 20071231.4200
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (60) 20071126.3824
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (40) 20070924.3164
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (20) 20070511.1509
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (01) 20070105.0047
2006
----
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (52) 20061229.3646
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (50) 20061215.3528
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (30) 20060724.2037
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (10) 20060303.0675
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (01) 20060106.0040]
........................................................ll/msp/dk
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