Zimbabwe cholera deaths pass 1,500

The number of cholera deaths in Zimbabwe continues to increase, a World Health Organization spokesman said Monday.

As of Sunday, the outbreak had killed 1,564 people, and 29,131 cases had been reported, Gregory Hartl told CNN. These figures represent increases from numbers released Thursday that showed 1,518 deaths and 26,497 cases.

The World Health Organization says the outbreak has affected all of the country's 10 provinces and has spread to neighboring South Africa. It is "closely linked to the lack of safe drinking water, poor sanitation, declining health infrastructure and reduced numbers of health care staff reporting to work."

The organization also says factors "include the commencement of the rainy season and the movement of people within the country, and possibly across borders, during the Christmas season."

Health experts have warned that the water-borne disease could infect more than 60,000 people unless its spread is halted.

Long wracked by political and economic turmoil, Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since its independence from Great Britain 28 years ago. There is an acute shortage of all essentials such as cash, fuel, medical drugs, electricity and food.

President Robert Mugabe blames the crisis on sanctions imposed by the West on grounds that he is disregarding human rights. But Mugabe's critics attribute the crisis to his economic policies.

The charity Save the Children recently issued a report saying some of Zimbabwe's children are "wasting away" amid the turmoil.

Five million Zimbabweans -- out of a population of about 12 million -- need food aid now, the report said. The group is appealing for 18,000 tons of food for next month

Here is the link to the original story: cholera


Here is some information about Cholera:

The following information is from the Center For Disease Control:

What is cholera?

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.

How does a person get cholera?

A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.

Is a vaccine available to prevent cholera?

A recently developed oral vaccine for cholera is licensed and available in other countries (Dukoral from SBL Vaccines). The vaccine appears to provide somewhat better immunity and have fewer adverse effects than the previously available vaccine. However, CDC does not recommend cholera vaccines for most travelers, nor is the vaccine available in the United States . Further information about Dukoral can be obtained from the manufacturers:

Dukoral ®
SBL Vaccin AB,
SE-105 21 Stockholm, Sweden
telephone +46-8-7351000,
e-mail: info@sblvaccines.se
website: www.sblvaccines.se


You can read all the CDC information about Cholera at this link: Cholera

Here are some recent news reports dealing with Cholera:


Zimbabwe malnutrition, cholera worse

Cholera epidemic is still 'out of control'

Cholera deaths soar in Zimbabwe

With the situation in Israel being so serious it is easy to miss other important stories. Earlier today I reported on the number of cholera deaths in Zimbabwe. You can read my earlier post at this link:
Deaths


I want to come back to that story and provide more information and links:

Cholera deaths soar in Zimbabwe

The latest figures from the UN and Zimbabwe's health ministry reveal that two-thirds of the victims of the cholera outbreak have died this month.

The death toll at the end of last week stood at 1,564, with 29,131 suspected cases since August, the UN said.

Figures from the health ministry on 1 December put cholera deaths at 484.
The UN has warned it could take six months to control the outbreak that has been fuelled by the collapse of the health, sanitation and water services.


You can read the rest of this report at this link:
Zimbabwe


From my research I see that there are two stories here.

1. Cholera Outbreak

2. The country of Zimbabwe. It seems to me the country is falling apart!


The BBC did a great report about this very thing:

Cholera lays bare Zimbabwe's collapse

The country that was once the jewel in Africa's crown, able to feed itself, heal its sick and educate its people to the highest standards on the continent, is now in a pitiful state.

Harare's main hospitals are closed, doctors and nurses are striking over their meagre "Zim dollar" pay and the country's water and sanitation services are tearing at the seams.

Manhole covers in the streets haemorrhage water because underground pipes have burst.
For many Zimbabweans, shallow wells with filthy water are the only means of quenching their thirst, despite the high risk of becoming ill. The cholera crisis which has already claimed nearly 1,000 lives, is the most potent symbol yet of Zimbabwe's collapse.

A deadly cocktail of failed services has turned a treatable disease into a major public health threat.

Nine out of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces have reported cases of cholera.

Eighteen thousand people have been infected so far, according to official figures, but that could just be the tip of the iceberg, with the World Health Organization warning that infections could treble.

You can read the rest of this very important report at this link:
Collapse



The BBC also offers some great resources about the country of Zimbabwe.


Country profile: Zimbabwe

Timeline: Zimbabwe

Deadly cholera outbreak in Iraq

An outbreak of cholera in two northern Iraqi provinces has killed eight people and infected 80 others, the Kurdistan Regional Government has said.

I don't know if this will develop into something very serious but here is some information that may be useful to some:

What is Cholera: From WebMD

General Discussion
Cholera is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which lives and multiples (colonizes) in the small intestine but does not destroy or invade the intestinal tissue (noninvasive).

The major symptom of cholera is massive watery diarrhea that occurs because of a toxin secreted by the bacteria that stimulates the cells of the small intestine to secrete fluid.

There are several strains of V. cholerae and the severity of the disease is based on the particular infectious strain.Cholera is not a difficult disease to treat and most people recover well with appropriate oral fluid replacement (hydration).

However, if the disease goes untreated, it can rapidly lead to shock, as a result of fluid and electrolyte loss, and to life-threatening complications.

What is going on?

To read the BBC's report on this story follow this link:

Deadly cholera outbreak in Iraq

Cholera breaks out in south Zambia

The follwoing report is from www.chinaview.cn


LUSAKA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Cholera has broken out in Siavonga District, in Southern Province of Zambia, and one person has since died following the outbreak, Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS) reported on Sunday.

The disease broke out in Matinangala area, about three kilometers from the main Siavonga Township, ZANIS said.

District Director of Health, Joseph Kabungo, confirmed the outbreak, saying that six cholera cases have so far been recorded in the township from the time the water borne disease broke out some four days ago.

Kabungo said all the six cases, that included one death, were received at the district hospital before being transferred to the district cholera center in Chirundu.

He disclosed that a woman died at the hospital from suspected cholera after she was rushed to the health center on Friday.

Kabungo attributed the outbreak of the disease in Matinangala area to poor sanitation as well as unsafe drinking water that residents source from Lake Kariba, ZANIS said.

He, further, stated that the human waste is later washed by rains and discharged into the lake where residents go and draw their water for drinking and other domestic use.

Here is the link to the original story: Cholera

Flies May Spread Drug-Resistant Bacteria from Poultry Operations

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found evidence that houseflies collected near broiler poultry operations may contribute to the dispersion of drug-resistant bacteria and thus increase the potential for human exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. The findings demonstrate another potential link between industrial food animal production and exposures to antibiotic resistant pathogens. Previous studies have linked antibiotic use in poultry production to antibiotic resistant bacteria in farm workers, consumer poultry products and the environment surrounding confined poultry operations, as well as releases from poultry transport.

“Flies are well-known vectors of disease and have been implicated in the spread of various viral and bacterial infections affecting humans, including enteric fever, cholera, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and shigellosis,” said lead author Jay Graham, PhD, who conducted the study as a research fellow with Bloomberg School’s Center for a Livable Future. Our study found similarities in the antibiotic-resistant bacteria in both the flies and poultry litter we sampled. The evidence is another example of the risks associated with the inadequate treatment of animal wastes.”

“Although we did not directly quantify the contribution of flies to human exposure, our results suggest that flies in intensive production areas could efficiently spread resistant organisms over large distances,” said Ellen Silbergeld, PhD, senior author of the study and professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

Graham and his colleagues collected flies and samples of poultry litter from poultry houses along the Delmarva Peninsula—a coastal region shared by Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, which has one of the highest densities of broiler chickens per acre in the United States. The analysis by the research team isolated antibiotic-resistant enterococci and staphylococci bacteria from both flies and litter. The bacteria isolated from flies had very similar resistance characteristics and resistance genes to bacteria found in the poultry litter.

Flies have ready access to both stored poultry waste and to poultry houses. A study by researchers in Denmark estimated that as many as 30,000 flies could enter a poultry house over the course of six week period.


To read the rest of the report follow this link: Flies


Here are links to other reports about this story:


Flies plus chicken droppings spread "superbugs"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flies, already blamed for spreading disease, may help spread drug-resistant superbugs from chicken droppings, researchers reported on Monday.

They matched antibiotic-resistant enterococci and staphylococci bacteria from houseflies and the litter found in intensive poultry-farming barns in the Delmarva Peninsula region of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

The findings, reported in the journal Science of the Total Environment, may help explain some of the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.


Flies May Be Spreading Deadly, Drug-Resistant Superbug to People

Flies may be spreading a severe form of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection from bird droppings on poultry farms to people, new research suggests.

The bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA), is a so-called “superbug” that is highly resistant to most types of antibiotics. More than 90,000 serious infections and 18,000 deaths are linked to MRSA in the United States each year.