Flood-related cholera outbreak kills 49 in east Sudan
Pastor Dale Morgan
Flood-related cholera outbreak kills 49 in east Sudan*
14 Aug 2007 17:36:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
KASSALA, Sudan, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A cholera outbreak in eastern Sudan,
which has spread due to devastating floods across the region, has killed
49 people and affected some 710 others, a World Health Organisation
(WHO) official said on Tuesday.
Last year a cholera outbreak throughout Sudan killed 700 people and
affected 25,000. It was the first time in many years the water-borne
disease had been reported in Africa's largest country.
WHO official Mohamed Abder Rab said all the recent cases had been
reported in the eastern Gedaref state and Kassala town, with the first
reported on April 19.
"The situation in Gedaref is not yet under control ... Flooding is
spreading the water-borne disease," Rab told Reuters before travelling
to the east to verify conditions in the region hit by the worst flooding
in living memory in Sudan.
"Latrines are flooded ... houses are destroyed. People are living on the
fringes. They don't have proper drinking water or latrine facilities and
hygiene is compromised," he added.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection spread by contaminated water or
food. It causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea that can lead to
dehydration and death within 24 hours, which if not treated can cause
death within hours.
Doctor Sumaya Okud from Kassala's ministry of health said people did not
have access to clean water.
"During the first week...the floods affected the filter and tank system
and all the people had to get their water from the main canal," she
said. The canal was full of muddy, stagnant water.
Rab said Sudan's government had been reluctant to announce the outbreak.
"Unfortunately the name cholera is still associated with a lot of
concern and cause fear among the people," he said.
"Historically most governments don't want to admit cholera because of
the international ramifications and local ramifications," he said,
adding it could affect tourism.
The little tourism Sudan has is mainly to its Red Sea diving resorts in
the east or for Sudanese honeymooners to the picturesque Kassala town.
He said governments are required to report contagious diseases such as
cholera.
"There are certain diseases that have a potential for international
spread, cholera being one of them, and they have to be reported," he added.
Sudan borders nine African countries, with Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east.
"In Gedaref the fatality rate is about 6-7 percent," Rab said. "Normally
we consider..anything beyond 2-3 percent is high."