ProMED-mail |

Published Date: 2007-02-02 15:00:02
Subject: PRO/EDR> Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2007 (05)
Archive Number: 20070202.0418

CHOLERA, DIARRHEA & DYSENTERY UPDATE 2007 (05)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
In this update:
Africa
[1] Cholera - Somalia (Hiraan, Middle Shabele)
[2] Cholera - Nigeria (Delta)
[3] Cholera - Zambia (Lusaka, Eastern Province)
[4], [5] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Harare)
[6], [7] Cholera - Congo (Kouilou)
[8] Cholera - Angola (Luanda)
Asia
[9] Shigellosis - Philipppines (Bohol)
[10] Cholera - worldwide - WHO WER notifications
[Linking to maps in this update does not imply any political statement
about boundaries by ProMED-mail. - Mod.LL]
*****
[1] Cholera - Somalia (Hiraan, Middle Shabele)
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007
From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
Source: Reuters [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01884009.htm>

A suspected outbreak of cholera has killed up to 121 people in Somalia in
the past week, both hospital sources and local elders in Jowhar, Middle
Shabele said on Thu, 1 Feb 2007.
Doctors say some samples of watery diarrhea stools taken from the victims
had tested positive for cholera, with the worst affected region being the
central Hiraan area where at least 105 people have died.
In neighboring Middle Shabele region, 16 people are thought to have died
from the disease, which can be transmitted through contaminated food and
water. In both areas, nearly 200 people have been admitted to hospital with
suspected cases of cholera.
Both regions were badly hit by floods late in 2006.
"There is no hospital here. Victims are being taken care of by relatives,"
said Abdulle Adan, a local elder. "42 people have died this week in
Buuloberde from the outbreak. Some of the dead are being buried today."
"Some of the samples taken to (Kenyan capital) Nairobi for testing have
confirmed cholera," the director of Baladwayne hospital Mohamed Hussein
Halane told Reuters by telephone. "We have admitted 160 cases and 14 have
died in just a week."
[Byline: Ibrahim Mohamed]
--
Mary Marshall
<tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>
[ProMED thanks Mary Marshall for this posting.
A map of Somalia can be found at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/somalia.pdf>. Both
Hiraan and Middle Shabele are administrative regions (gobolkas) in southern
Somalia. Hiraan has its western border with Ethiopia. Middle Shabele
(called Shabele Dhexe on the map) is east of Hiraan with the Indian Ocean
to its east. - Mod.LL]
******
[2] Cholera - Nigeria (Delta)
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Tide [edited]
<http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=02/02/2007&qrTitle=Cholera%20outbreak%20kills%2012%20in%20Delta&qrColumn=NIGER%20DELTA>

Twelve persons have died in Delta State over an outbreak of cholera that
hit parts of the local governments in the state. The death of the people
followed [severe] shortage of drinking water in the affected areas. The
Tide reports showed that 7 of the victims died in the Power Line riverine
area near Asaba, while another 5 died in Bomadi Local Government Council of
the state.
The Health Ministry listed the areas most hit by the outbreak to include
Oshimili South, Oshimili North, Aniocha South, Bomadi and Burutu.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The Delta State can be found in southern Nigeria at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/nigeria.pdf>. The delta
is that of the Niger River. - Mod.LL]
******
[3] Cholera - Zambia (Lusaka, Eastern Province)
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Zambia National Broadcasting Corp [edited]
<http://www.znbc.co.zm/media/news/viewnews.cgi?category=8&id=1170256223>

Cholera has continued to take its toll in Lusaka. About 19 new cases have
been recorded in the last 24 hrs. Ministry of Health Spokesperson Canicius
Banda said the development has increased the number of individuals being
treated from cholera to 64. Dr. Banda also said 30 people who suffered
from cholera have been discharged in the last 24 hrs.
Dr. Banda said since the disease broke out in November 2006, 431 cases have
been handled in various health centers. He said out of the figure, 370
victims have been discharged and 10 have died. Meanwhile Dr. Banda said the
ministry of health has so far handled 167 cases of those affected that has
broken out in Sinda in Eastern province. He said 15 cases are currently
under treatment.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A map of Zambia can be found at
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/zambia.pdf>. Lusaka is in
the south-central part of the country bordering on Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The Eastern Province is east and north of the Lusaka area. - Mod.LL]
******
[4] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Harare)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007
From: Thomas Schmidt <mediscon@web.de>
Source: IRIN [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f29ccd283228d2eeb72adb2dd8e00713.htm>

Four of 12 suspected cases of cholera have so far been confirmed in the
Zimbabwean capital, Harare, according to the city's director of health
services. The source of the disease may have been caused by a discharge of
untreated effluent into the reservoir supplying the capital with drinking
water 2 weeks ago.
However, other observers say that the failure to distribute water by the
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) has resulted in many people
drawing water from shallow wells, which are also suspected of harboring
cholera bacteria. Before President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government
created ZINWA, which is wholly responsible for supplying water to Harare's
residents and industry, distribution was handled by the local municipality.
City director of health services Dr Prosper Chonzi confirmed to IRIN that
there was a cholera outbreak in the capital's eastern suburbs, where
water provision has been the most erratic, and said all cases of diarrhea
were being tested for cholera. "We suspect that the cholera outbreak could
have been caused by the contaminated water that residents are drinking --
most of them are fetching water from shallow unprotected wells, which are
easily contaminated."
The recent breakdown of the capital's largest sewage treatment plant
resulted in the discharge of 72 megalitres of raw sewage into the Mukuvisi
River, a tributary of Manyame River, which flows into Lake Chivero,
Harare's chief source of drinking water.
--
Thomas Schmidt
Executive Director, MediScon Worldwide
Hannover, Germany
<mediscon@web.de>
[ProMED thanks Thomas Schmidt for this posting. A link to a map of
Zimbabwe showing Harare can be found below in the next posting. - Mod.LL]
******
[5] Cholera - Zimbabwe (Harare)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Independent Online [edited]
<http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=qw1170149580866B251>

Nine people have caught cholera in 2 poor townships in Zimbabwe's capital,
most likely from drinking contaminated water in shallow wells due to a
breakdown in municipal services. More people have been forced to seek water
from more dangerous sources as the southern African nation suffers from
rocketing inflation, rising unemployment and poverty levels and shortages
of foreign currency, fuel and food.
The official Herald newspaper reported on Tue, 30 Jan 2007, that 9 people
from Tafara and Mabvuku townships were admitted to hospital after drinking
contaminated water. The 2 townships have faced intermittent water shortages
for years.
"Basically we suspect that the cholera outbreak could be from the
contaminated water the people in the area are drinking," Prosper Chonzi,
Harare's acting director of health services, told the paper. "Most of them
are drawing water from shallow wells, which are easily contaminated since
they are going for weeks without water," added Chonzi.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[ProMED thanks Mary Marshall (<tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>) who also
sent in the posting.
A map of Zimbabwe showing the capital city of Harare in the northeastern
part of the country can be found at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/zimbabwe.pdf>. - Mod.LL]
******
[6] Cholera - Congo (Kouilou)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Independent Online [edited]
<http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=&art_id=qw1170157860591B252>

A cholera epidemic that broke out in the Republic of Congo's economic
capital Pointe-Noire at the beginning of 2007 has killed 43 people, Health
Minister Alphonse Gando said Tue, 30 Jan 2007. Speaking on Radio Congo,
Gando said that 1826 cases and 43 deaths had been recorded since 5 Jan 2007
-- higher than the official tolls of 1236 and 41 published on Sat, 27 Jan 2007.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[A map of the area can be found linked to the following post. It is unclear
if the 2 deaths and 590 cases were new from the previous numbers released
only 3 days before. - Mod.LL]
******
[7] Cholera - Congo (Kouilou)
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) [edited]
<http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6XWKES?OpenDocument>

An outbreak of cholera has killed 41 people in the port city of
Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo (ROC) since the beginning of Jan
2007, Health Minister Alphonse Gando said on Mon, 29 Jan 2007.
"Clinical observations and laboratory tests in Brazzaville have led us to
conclude that a cholera epidemic has broken out in Pointe-Noire and
surrounding areas," Gando said in a statement.
Pointe-Noire, ROC's 2nd largest city and the country's economic hub, is 500
km south of Brazzaville and has a population of an estimated 800 000. Gando
said by Mon, 29 Jan 2007, 1236 cases of cholera, including 41 fatalities,
had been reported.
To help residents of the cholera-affected area, the government has set up 3
large treatment centers providing free medical care.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[ProMED thanks Mary Marshall (<tropical.forestry@btinternet.com>) who also
sent in the posting.
The city of Pointe-Noire is in Kouilou province in southwestern Congo and
can be seen on a map of the country at:
<http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/congo.pdf> - Mod.LL]
******
[8] Cholera - Angola (Luanda)
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Reuters. Com [edited]
<http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L29193180>

Cholera cases have surged to "alarming" levels in Angola after deadly
floods left thousands of people without clean drinking water and access to
sewage facilities, aid workers said on Mon, 29 Jan 2007.
An average of 90 cases of the potentially fatal intestinal infection are
being reported each day in the province of Luanda, which includes the
capital, compared to an average of 15 to 20 cases before heavy rains
triggered floods last week.
"There has been a 5 fold increase in the number of cases in relation to a
week ago, which is a lot. Yes, it's quite alarming," said Mark van Boekel,
head of Medicins Sans Frontieres Holland in Angola.
But with parts of Luanda, including its slums, submerged in fetid water and
more rain forecast, aid workers say the outbreak may worsen in the coming
weeks and the death toll could eclipse that of the floods, which have
killed at least 90 people.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Luanda province and the country's capital, where the outbreak began in
early 2006, can be found in the northwestern part of the country can be
seen at: <http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/angola.pdf>. At
this point, only Lunda Sul in the northeast of the 18 provinces has not
reported cases. - Mod.LL]
******
[9] Shigellosis - Philippines (Bohol)
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007
From: Brent Barrett <salbrent@sbcglobal.net>
Source: Bohol Chronicle [edited]
<http://www.theboholchronicle.com/fpage.php?issue=219&s1=2944&s2=&s3=&s4=&s5=2948&s6=812&s7=&s9=&s10=>

_Shigella flexneri_, the type of bacteria that has killed at least 4 and
infected over 400 residents of Loon town over the past 2 weeks, has reached
epidemic proportions. According to the Department of Health (DOH) Region 7
officials who are in Loon to conduct full-scale medical operations, such
widespread bacterial dysentery (shigellosis) may be occurring for the first
time in the country.
DOH Region 7 Director Dr. Susana Madarieta told the Chronicle yesterday, 31
Jan 2007, that there have been cases of shigellosis outbreaks in the past
but not as massive and unusual as the one plaguing Loon. Of Loon's 67
barangays, 47 are now affected with the bacterial outbreak, according to
DOH assistant regional director Dr. Lakshimi Legaspi, in a separate
interview with the Chronicle. As of 31 Jan 2007, there were 82 confined at
the Cong. Natalio Castillo Hospital with 19 new admittances.
Legaspi said the Loon dysentery outbreak is also the first major contagion
since the 1990s typhoid epidemic in Balamban, Cebu City.
Regional health officials have reviewed cases of diarrhea in Loon over the
past months to investigate how the spread of the disease started. Long
periods of rainfall could trigger high [numbers of] cases of bacillary
dysentery, according to Legaspi, and they are trying to look into water
sources, as there were reports that high levels of coliform have already
been detected in water samples in the town's waterworks sources as early as
Dec 2006.
[Byline: Kit Bagagipo]
--
Brent Barrett
<salbrent@sbcglobal.net>
[ProMED thanks Brent Barrett for this posting.
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central
Visayas region. To the west of Bohol is Cebu, to the northeast is the
island of Leyte, and to the south, across the Bohol Sea, is Mindanao. It
can be found on a map at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohol>. - Mod.LL]
******
[10] Cholera - worldwide - WHO WER notifications
Date: Fri 2 Feb 2007
From: Marianne Hopp
Source: WHO Epidemiological Record [edited]
<http://www.who.int/wer/2007/wer8205/en/index.html>

Notifications of cholera received from 26 Jan to 1 Feb 2007
-----------------------------------------------
Country / Dates / Cases / Deaths
Africa
Angola 15 - 23 Jan 2007 / 1129 / 33
Namibia 1 Nov 2006 - 9 Jan 2007 / 199 / 5
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

See Also