Ethiopia Has Suspected Outbreak of Cholera;
AtLeast 34 Dead
31 August, 2009 | By Jason McLure
(Bloomberg)
At least 34 people died in Ethiopia following a suspected cholera
outbreak, with more than 4,000 sickened in the capital, Addis Ababa, in
the past two weeks.
acute watery diarrhea.” The spread of the disease has been exacerbated
by heavy rains in the Horn of Africa country, he said.
Cholera, mainly spread through contaminated water and food and poor
sanitation, causes acute diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to death.
The illness is considered to be endemic in “many countries” and the
pathogen that causes the disease can’t currently be eliminated from the
environment, according to the Web site of the World Health
Organization.
The United Nations humanitarian agency said six cholera- treatment
centers capable of treating 180 people a day have been dispatched to
the country. The UN has also sent drugs for the treatment of more than
1,500 severe cases and 600 mild cases of acute water diarrhea, as well
as water-purification tablets, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said in an e-mailed statement.
Of the 34 who have died in Ethiopia, seven fatalities were in Addis
Ababa, Dadi said. He didn’t provide figures for the number of people
affected nationwide, adding only that the disease had been reported in
31 districts.
If untreated, cholera can kill a healthy adult in as little as five hours,
according to the WHO.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via
Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
AtLeast 34 Dead
31 August, 2009 | By Jason McLure
(Bloomberg)
At least 34 people died in Ethiopia following a suspected cholera
outbreak, with more than 4,000 sickened in the capital, Addis Ababa, in
the past two weeks.
- The disease has infected as
many as 1,000 people a day
in the past week, Dadi Jima,
deputy director of the state-
owned Ethiopian Health and
Nutrition Research Institute,
said in an interview today.
He declined to say the
disease is cholera.
The government has not
acute watery diarrhea.” The spread of the disease has been exacerbated
by heavy rains in the Horn of Africa country, he said.
Cholera, mainly spread through contaminated water and food and poor
sanitation, causes acute diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to death.
The illness is considered to be endemic in “many countries” and the
pathogen that causes the disease can’t currently be eliminated from the
environment, according to the Web site of the World Health
Organization.
The United Nations humanitarian agency said six cholera- treatment
centers capable of treating 180 people a day have been dispatched to
the country. The UN has also sent drugs for the treatment of more than
1,500 severe cases and 600 mild cases of acute water diarrhea, as well
as water-purification tablets, the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said in an e-mailed statement.
Of the 34 who have died in Ethiopia, seven fatalities were in Addis
Ababa, Dadi said. He didn’t provide figures for the number of people
affected nationwide, adding only that the disease had been reported in
31 districts.
If untreated, cholera can kill a healthy adult in as little as five hours,
according to the WHO.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via
Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
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