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Published Date: 2006-01-06 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/EDR> Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006
Archive Number: 20060106.0040

CHOLERA, DIARRHEA & DYSENTERY UPDATE 2006
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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In this update:
Africa
[1] Cholera - Malawai (Southern Highlands)
[2] Cholera - Rwanda (Kabuga district)
[3] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Buhera district)
[4] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Chikomba area)
[5] Cholera - Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
[6] Cholera - Sao Tome and Principe (Sao Tome)
[7] Cholera - Nigeria (Ogun, Lagos)
[8] Cholera - Nigeria (Bayelsa State)
[9] Cholera - Worldwide - WHO WER Notifications
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[1] Cholera - Malawai (Southern Highlands)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Malawi Nation [edited]
<http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=14491>

7 people have died from cholera in Ndirande Township in Blantyre which the
community says happened because the faith of the deceased prevented them
from going to the hospital.
Lazaro Nyadani, UDF area chairman of Matope in Ndirande, said 3 people died
on Mon, 2 Jan 2006, and the following day 4 more succumbed to the disease.
"These people are from the 7th-Day Apostolic Church. Their faith forbids
them from going to hospital and their hope of survival was prayer. However,
it did not work their way," he said.
Blantyre District Health officer Minyanga Nkhoma said she was not aware of
the Ndirande incident but acknowledged that Ndirande and Bangwe are 2
townships that have been affected. She explained that as of Wed, 4 Jan
2006, the number of admitted patients at Ndirande and Bangwe health centres
were 8 and 12 respectively.
Director of Preventive Health in the Ministry of Health said as of last
week there were 117 cases of cholera recorded in the country.
He said Balaka and Salima were other districts that have been hit by the
disease, adding that 1 person had died by then. Other districts affected
are Dedza and Mangochi.
[Byline: Emmanuel Muwamba]
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[2] Cholera - Rwanda (Kabuga district)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: AllAfrica.com and The New Times (Kigali)
<http://allafrica.com/stories/200601060185.html>

An outbreak of cholera in the former sectors of Rusheshe and Ayabaraya in
the former district of Kabuga has so far claimed over 10 lives. According
to the official in charge of Masaka Hospital, Sr. Maria Gorreti Maama, the
1st case was reported on 29 Dec 2005.
She added, however, that by the morning of 5 Jan 2006, 68 cases had been
reported to the hospital. "Severe stomach pain, dysentery and vomiting are
the most common symptoms reported by all the patients," Maama said, adding
that the numbers kept increasing.
Maama advised area residents to report any suspected cases and also warned
them to maintain cleanliness. "I first thought I had been bewitched," a
patient told The New Times.
Officials at the Masaka Hospital saying the disease was caused by dirty
water from the Nyabarongo River. Prime Minister Bernard Makuza appealed to
the authorities to repair the broken pipes for the residents to get clean
and safe water.
[Byline: Edward K. Mwesigye]
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[3] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Buhera district)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: South African Broadcasting Corp [edited]
http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,119014,00.html

4 more people have died in a cholera outbreak in southeastern Zimbabwe,
bringing the death toll to 11.
"The 2nd cholera outbreak in less than 2 weeks has killed 4 people in
Murambinda, Buhera district bringing the death toll to 11," the state-run
The Herald said.
7 people died last week in an outbreak in the neighboring Chikomba
district, prompting the health ministry to send officials to give villagers
chlorine tablets to treat their drinking water.
David Parirenyatwa, the health minister, told the newspaper 181 cases of
cholera have been recorded since the 1st outbreak in late Dec 2005.
Zimbabwe has cholera outbreaks nearly every year, between November and
March during the rainy season.
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[4] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Chikomba area)
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005
From: Alfonso Rodriguez <ajrm_msds@yahoo.es>
Source: Yahoo News [edited]
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051230/hl_afp/zimbabwehealthcholera_051230200542>

7 people have died from an outbreak of cholera in southern Zimbabwe, with
more than 100 others sick from the waterborne disease, the health minister
said.
Speaking on state radio, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa advised
residents suffering from symptoms of cholera against traveling outside the
Chikomba area, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Harare.
Chikomba and surrounding "areas have had a cholera outbreak with 114 people
being affected by cholera and we have registered 7 deaths so far," the
minister said.
"We are setting up 2 camps in Chikomba to make sure people who have had
watery diarrhea, sometimes with vomiting, very severe diarrhea ... not
travel outside that district," he said.
Zimbabwe has had almost annual cholera outbreaks, from around November
through March during the country's peak rainfall season.
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[5] Cholera - Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Guardian [edited]
<http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2006/01/06/57282.html>

At least 40 people have contracted cholera in Dar es Salaam since the
disease resurfaced in the city a week ago. Gaston Makwembe, Dar es Salaam
City Council (DCC) Public Relations Officer, said on Wed, 4 Jan 2006, that
the cases had been reported in various areas of the city.
However, he singled out Buguruni, Tabata, Kigogo and Vingunguti as the
worst-hit areas. Buguruni had 17 patients as of Wednesday while Tabata,
Kigogo and Vingunguti each reported 3 cases. Other areas hit by the
outbreak include Kitunda, Mchikichini, Ilala, Mabibo, Kinyerezi, Ukonga and
Kiwalani.
Makwembe said these were the same areas where the most cases were reported
whenever cholera broke out in the city, and attributed this to reluctance
on the part of local residents to take simple preventive measures.
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[6] Cholera - Sao Tome and Principe (Sao Tome)
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/219487/113650201956.htm>

In response to a cholera outbreak that struck Sao Tome and Principe in Oct
2005, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is helping to
control the outbreak by distributing disinfectants among the community, as
well as promoting improved health and sanitation practices through
campaigns that teach villagers how to prevent the transmission of this
contagious disease. ADRA has organized an awareness campaign among 50
rural community groups targeting 1000 women, focusing primarily on the
districts of MeZochi and Caue. With this training, the women become health
promoters in their communities, teaching other people the same health and
hygiene practices they have been taught.
Each woman will receive training on how cholera is transmitted, how it can
be treated, and how to prevent it. They will also receive bottles of lye,
which they will use to safely disinfect water, food, and any other
potential contaminant. In addition, ADRA will distribute 10 health
education leaflets to each woman; one for her personal use, and 9
additional leaflets to share among her community. ADRA will also perform a
theatre play that will be performed in 24 communities to educate the
community on the cholera outbreak.
As of 1 Jan 2006, nearly 30 people have succumbed to the disease, since the
outbreak began 3 months ago, out of an estimated 1849 severe cases that
have been reported since its inception.
--
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[7] Cholera - Nigeria (Ogun, Lagos)
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: XinHuaNet.com [edited]
<http://english.people.com.cn/200601/05/eng20060105_232958.html>

Cholera has broken out in the southwestern Nigerian states of Ogun and
Lagos, leaving 23 people dead and 40 others hospitalized, Nigeria's The
Guardian newspaper reported on Wed, 4 Jan 2006. The epidemic was reported
in Ilase Agbara, an Ogun state border town with Lagos, some 50 km from
Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Leke Pitan, however, told Xinhua "we
are not aware of the epidemic yet but we have sent a monitoring team to go
to the site and investigate." The paper reported that the Ogun state
government had directed the sealing up of dirty homes as a precautionary
measure.
The victims were reported to be vomiting and to have diarrhea, leading to
dehydration [and in some cases] to death. The paper quoted one of the
cholera victims who lost his wife to the disease as saying "I did all I
could initially and when it was getting out of hand I rushed her to a
hospital but before we got there, she died."
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[8] Cholera - Nigeria (Bayelsa State)
Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Daily Independent [edited]
<http://www.independentng.com/nigerdelta/ndjan020604.htm>

Panic and grief have virtually taken over Isoni, a riverside community in
Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, following the death of 5
locals due to an outbreak of cholera in the area.
The incident occurred during the last week of December 2005, and the state
government has already mobilized a team of health officials to visit the
remote community, where the chairman of the state Council of Traditional
Rulers, King Joshua Igbagara, hails from.
The Daily Independent correspondent gathered that the epidemic has left no
fewer than 20 persons critically ill in some local government health
centers. This may not be unconnected with the lack of potable water and the
poor sanitary conditions in the village over the years. Most of the
inhabitants drink polluted water from the river.
It was also learned that the area does not even have a functional hospital.
A community leader, who preferred anonymity, expressed fear that the
epidemic might claim more lives if it is not checked by the state
government. The local inhabitants have also requested that a well be
constructed in the community as well as a functional health center.
[Byline: Emma Gbemudu]
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[9] Cholera - Worldwide - WHO WER Notifications
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006
From: Marianne Hopp <mjhopp12@yahoo.com>
Source: WHO Epidemiological Record [edited]
<http://www.who.int/wer/2006/wer8101/en/index.html>

Notifications of cholera received from 2 to 5 Jan 2006
--------------------------------------------------------
Country/Dates/Cases/Deaths
Africa
Guinea-Bissau 1-31 Dec 2005/ 406/ 2
Liberia 7 Nov - 11 Dec 2005/ 212/ 7
Malawi 17 Oct - 27 Nov 2005/ 33/ 0
Senegal 5-24 Dec 2005/ 60/ 1
Zambia 1-15 Nov 2005/ 494/ 3
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