Cholera Death Toll In West Africa Tops 800 - WHO
Date: 28-Sep-05
Country: SWITZERLAND
Author: Stephanie Nebehay
Outbreaks of the water-borne disease were triggered by a particularly heavy rainy season, compounded by increased population movements, according to Claire-Lise Chaignat, WHO's global cholera coordinator.
"It is worse overall compared with previous years, because there are big outbreaks in three countries -- Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissua," Chaignat told a news briefing.
"We are concerned it might move into southern Africa and the Horn of Africa, where the season starts soon," she added, citing Mozambique, South Africa, Somalia and Zimbabwe as being at risk.
Senegal, where the situation has been made worse by flooding in the capital Dakar, is hardest hit, reporting 320 deaths among 24,111 cases since January, according to the United Nations agency.
Some 1,212 new cases were reported last week alone in Senegal, where the WHO said it was concerned about its further spread due to population movements during the Ramadan Muslim holy month starting next week.
Tiny Guinea-Bissau follows, with 278 deaths among 16,424 cases since June. This meant 1.1 percent of its population of 1.5 million was suffering from the disease, a "very high rate", according to the WHO expert.
Niger, which is battling food shortages and malnutrition due to drought and locust invasions last year, has reported 46 deaths among 455 cases since mid-July. This gave it has the highest case fatality rate at some 10.1 percent.
"People are much more vulnerable to getting cholera as a severe disease if they are already malnourished," Chaignat said.
Cholera, an acute intestinal infection spread by contaminated water or food, causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea that can lead to dehydration and death within 24 hours.
It can be treated by using a simple mixture of water and rehydration salts while severe cases require intravenous fluids.
Preventive measures -- including stocks of medicines and teaching good personal hygiene -- are key to heading off outbreaks in vulnerable poor communities which often lack latrines or clean drinking water, according to the WHO.
"Equally important is good surveillance so you can capture the first case and respond rapidly and identify the source of contamination and get rid of it," Chaignat said.
In all, eight countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal), have reported some 46,569 cases with 804 deaths, according to a Reuters tally of the WHO figures issued in Geneva.
Some 94 percent of the world's 101,383 reported cholera cases last year occurred in Africa, according to the WHO.
