Published Date: 2012-02-03 19:37:26
Subject: PRO/EDR> Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2012 (04): Africa, Asia, Americas
Archive Number: 20120203.1031859
CHOLERA, DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY UPDATE 2012 (04): AFRICA, ASIA, AMERICAS
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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In this update:
Asia
[1] Cholera - Myanmar-China border, displaced persons' camps
[2] Diarrhea, displaced persons - Cambodia (Kandal province)
Africa
[3] Cholera - Congo DR
Americas
[4] Diarrhea - El Salvador, Honduras
[5] Shigellosis - USA (Kentucky)
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[1] Cholera - Myanmar-China border displaced persons' camps
Date: Thu 2 Feb 2012
Source: Mizzima [edited]
http://www.mizzima.com/special/kachin-battle-report/6525-cholera-outbreak-in-kachin-refugee-camps.html
Children and elderly people in Kachin refugee camps along the Sino-Burmese border have contracted cholera because of unsafe drinking water, according to workers with the Relief Action Network for IDP and Refugees (Ranir). More than 30 children have contracted cholera and one child has died of the disease at the Pajau Refugee Camp, Ranir said.
A total of 3 refugee camps in Mansi Township and the Pajau Camp in Waimaw Township in Kachin State are all experiencing a lack of sanitary drinking water, Ranir official La Rip told Mizzima. The camps are located in mountainous areas making access to clean drinking water and toilet facilities difficult.
In China, the Ruili District adjacent to Kachin State has also experienced a cholera outbreak, according to the Wunpawng Ning Htoi group (People's Light), which works to provide food and medicine to Kachin refugees. No estimates of how many cases have occurred were available.
May Li Aung, a worker with the Wunpawng Ning Htoi, told Mizzima that drinking water is unsafe and there are few sanitary toilets in the mountainous areas. Workers said the refugee camps near towns have enough water and sanitary toilets.
According to the Kachin refugees' relief committee, there are 19 refugee camps in China for Kachin war refugees. In Kachin State, more than 40 refugee camps are located in townships including Laiza, Mansi, Mai Ja Yang, Lweje Waimaw and Manwingyi, with up to an estimated 44 000 people living in the camps.
The camps are operated by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Burmese citizens inside and outside the country, local and foreign aid groups, religious organizations and social organizations have donated food and medicine to the camps, according to Dwe P Sar, a refugee worker. However, large international groups have not been allowed access to the area by the government to assess the conditions and the needs. Relief supplies including food, shelter, bedding, clothes, tents and medicine are badly needed, say aid workers.
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[2] Diarrhea, displaced persons - Cambodia (Kandal province)
Date: Wed 1 Feb 2012
Source: The Phnom Penh Post [edited]
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012020154258/National-news/skin-conditions-diarrhoea-hit-b-keila-evictees.html
Hundreds of evicted Borei Keila [a large poor urban community in Phnom Penh] residents living at a relocation site in Kandal province are suffering from diarrhea, as well as skin ailments and fever after consecutive days of rain, an NGO doctor said yesterday [31 Jan 2012].
Dr Nhean Sarin, a medical officer with rights group Licadho, told the Post yesterday [31 Jan 2012] that Borei Keila residents relocated to Ponhear Leu district's Srah Po village in early January [2012] were also at more risk of catching malaria and cholera.
"The raining over a few consecutive days caused them to develop fever, chills, and diarrhea due to them having inadequate sleep because their plastic, no-wall tents cannot stand the rain," he said, adding that many were also suffering from a shortage of food.
[Byline: Khouth Sophakchakrya]
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[3] Cholera - Congo DR
Date:Sat 28 Jan 2012
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP) [edited]
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1dxPcHozp0HcqVj7Ik9MqAxJpkw?docId=CNG.871f4204301feda9723a1cb343f5afe3.101
Cholera cases have soared in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, the UN said on Friday, 27 Jan 2012, bringing the number of people infected in the year-long outbreak to 22 000 with 584 deaths. Aid agencies have been trying to halt the spread of the water-borne disease that has ravaged 8 of the country's 11 provinces since January 2011.
"There has been a spike in cases" since mid-December 2011, with figures on the rise in the capital Kinshasa in particular, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. Cholera, a contagious intestinal infection, has taken its heaviest toll on eastern regions however, with a quarter of all cases reported in Sud-Kivu province.
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[4] Diarrhea - El Salvador, Honduras
Date: Wed 1 Feb 2012
Source: El Nacional [machine transl., edited]
http://www.el-nacional.com/noticia/20678/22/El-Salvador-reporta-siete-muertos-por-diarrea-comun-a-nivel-nacional.html
The deputy minister of Salvadoran Health, Violeta Menjivar, stated to journalists that during January 2012 common diarrhea caused "nationwide, 7 deaths," without further details. In the same period were recorded in the El Salvador 46 761 cases of diarrhea, some 19 178 more than the 27 583 recorded in January 2011, according to official information.
The Honduran health authorities declared an alert on the borders with El Salvador and Nicaragua by what they described as an outbreak of rotavirus in both countries, without offering details.
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[Little information is given to help identify any etiology (or, probably etiologies) of the gastrointestinal illnesses. - Mod.LL]
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[5] Shigellosis - USA (Kentucky)
Date: Mon 30 Jan 2012
Source: Courier-Journal [edited]
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120130/NEWS01/301300081/1001/rsslink
Shigellosis [dysentery] cases continue to rise in Louisville, with 18 laboratory-confirmed cases last week. That's the highest number in any week so far during the current outbreak, which has seen 84 confirmed cases in 13 weeks.
Shigellosis is a highly-contagious diarrhea illness caused by _Shigella_ bacteria. Symptoms include watery or loose stools for several days, and in severe cases abrupt onset of fever, nausea, abdominal cramping and vomiting. For the past 5 years, Louisville has had an average of 62 confirmed cases annually.
To prevent the illness, health officials are urging people to wash their hands carefully with soap and water, including under the fingernails. This is especially important after handling items such as diapers, after each bowel movement, after helping children use the toilet and before preparing or eating food, health officials said.
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[Shigellosis, or bacterial dysentery, certainly does spread easily from person-to-person, as it generally requires substantially fewer organisms in an inoculum to cause infection than most bacterial causes of diarrhea. - Mod.LL
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1AFv.]
See Also
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2012 (03): Africa, Asia 20120121.1014512Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2012 (02): Haiti (GA) 20120112.1008336
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2012: Haiti, DR 20120111.1007086
2011
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Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (38): Africa 20111203.3523
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (35): Haiti 20111011.3044
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (34): Tuvalu 20111005.2998
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (33): Africa 20111004.2987
Cholera, diarrhea dysentery update (32): Haiti, DR 20111003.2979
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (31): Asia 20110922.2875
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (30): Africa 20110921.2867
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (29): HAITI, DR 20110920.2856
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (28): Africa 20110830.2665
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (27): Africa 20110828.2634
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (25): Haiti, DR 20110823.2567
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (24): Americas 20110804.2349
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (23): Haiti, DR 20110726.2253
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (22): Asia, Africa 20110711.2094
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (21): Haiti, DR 20110710.2086
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (20) 20110708.2061
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (19): Asia, Africa 20110704.2027
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (16): Asia, Africa 20110622.1910
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (15): Asia, Africa 20110617.1849
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (09): Africa 20110419.1219
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (05): Africa 20110403.1033
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (04) 20110222.0582
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (03) 20110128.0333
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 (02) 20110118.0215
Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2011 20110109.0101
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