CHOLERA - HAITI (07): STRAIN ANALYSIS | Haiti: Cholera Situation Report - 30 October 2010 | Zambia - 2 children die in Monze's cholera outbreak | Haiti cholera deaths reach 330 | UNICEF prepares for Hurricane Tomas' impact on Haiti
Campbell, Dan
Haiti and other cholera outbreak alerts are posted on http://washalerts.wordpress.com/
CHOLERA – HAITI (07): STRAIN ANALYSIS
A ProMED-mail post, 30 Oct 2010
Scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have Haitian cholera bacteria under their microscopes, and are looking for molecular “fingerprints” that might tell them where the bug came from. Dr. Eric Mintz, the CDC’s chief detective for diarrheal diseases, says he isn’t sure of the answer yet. Mintz, who’s in Haiti, says the lab tests may show “a strain that has been very commonly seen before. In that instance, we won’t be much further along in understanding the origin of the cholera strain here in Haiti.” Or, Mintz says, “it’s possible we will see a strain we’ve never seen before.”
As of Friday [29 Oct 2010], Haitian officials had counted 4700 cases of cholera and 330 deaths. Mintz says about 6 percent of victims have died, but public health officials hope to reduce that fatality rate to 1 percent or less.
The origins of the strain became a hot issue in Haiti this week after the mayor of Mirebalais, a town in the middle of the outbreak, suggested that Nepalese soldiers brought it from their homeland to a nearby United Nations peacekeeping camp. There were outbreaks of cholera in Nepal last summer, but UN officials say there’s been no evidence of cholera in the camp.
The CDC laboratory work so far has established that the Haitian cholera strain is one that’s been identified in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Mintz says it may be impossible to determine exactly where the Haitian strain came from. But “if a strain of cholera was [already] here, it would have caused an explosive epidemic” before now, Mintz says. “Likely it came from somewhere else.” Mintz says it may never be known where the Haitian strain came from.
But John Mekalanos, chairman of microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School, disagrees. He and other Harvard researchers plan to get a much more fine-grained picture of the Haitian strain, down to its genetic sequence.
Mekalanos says he has “no doubt” that detailed genetic analysis will reveal “with some certainty” whether the Haitian strain was introduced from somewhere else — and most likely, where. 1st, the Harvard scientists have to get it. But then it should take only a couple of weeks to sequence the Haitian strain, and get closer to solving the mystery.
Haiti: Cholera Situation Report – 30 October 2010
Source:
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date:
30 Oct 2010
Full report: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-8AREEQ/$File/full_report.pdf
I. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES
• The Ministry of Health reports 337 deaths and 4,764 hospitalized cases of cholera as of 10:00 A.M.
• Water purification materials, in particular that which are used to treat water with sediment, are urgently needed. Additional stocks of water purification tablets and soap also need urgent replenishing.
• Preparations begin for Hurricane Tomas which has a likelihood of impacting Haiti early next week.
• UNICEF has made 100 megaphones and 800 batteries available to the departmental health authorities of St Marc and Gonaives to conduct sensitization on cholera prevention and treatment.
Zambia – 2 children die in Monze’s cholera outbreak
1 Nov. 2010 – TWO children have died from suspected cholera in Monze.
Confirming the deaths of the duo, Monze district medical officer Dr Kenneth Chibwe said that 14 people were admitted to Chikuni Mission Hospital for suspected cholera on Tuesday last week.
Yes, I can confirm that on Tuesday we received 14 patients who were admitted for diarrhoea complaints which we suspect to be cholera but we are not certain. We are still investigating, and waiting for the results. Probably they will be out today Thursday in the afternoon, he said.
Dr Chibwe said 12 were still admitted to Chikuni Mission Hospital for diarrhoea and vomiting and were receiving treatment, adding that two out of the 14 had died.
And Southern Province police commanding officer Lemmy Kajoba said that his officers had first suspected food poisoning and later handed the matter over to health personnel when it was discovered that it was suspected cholera.
A family of 14 got sick after eating vegetables and two children of Chileka village under chief Ufwenuka in Monze district died, he said.
Kajoba named the deceased as James Mulyata aged six, and Christine Haleka aged 11 years.
We have found out that it was not food poisoning but cholera or some medical disease so it is no longer our issue please get in touch with the medical people, said Kajoba.
http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=15115
Haiti cholera deaths reach 330
1st November, 2010 (IANS) – The number of deaths from a cholera outbreak in Haiti has reached 330, an official said.
Though the illness continues to spread, steps taken to contain it are beginning to bear fruit, said Gabriel Timothee, director-general of the health ministry.
Of the current 4,714 suspected cholera cases, only 81 patients have undergone tests, Timothee said, adding that 34 of those patients tested positive for the illness.
Twenty-six of the confirmed cases were residents of the Artibonite Valley, the epicentre of the outbreak.
http://www.haitinews.net/story/701354
The international community has provided ‘massive’ humanitarian assistance since the outbreak was detected last week, Timothee said.
Fear of cholera has prompted Haitians to stop buying things from street vendors and to avoid seafood and vegetables.
Haiti cholera cases down, Dominicans still on alert
Nov 1, 2010 – SANTO Domingo.- Public Health officials, tourism business leaders and merchants of the border zones and local governments affirmed Sunday that they maintain the vigilance to prevent the entry of cholera.
According to official figures the disease has killed more than 337 people and hospitalized 4,764 others in Haiti.
Public Health minister Bautista Rojas said the latest information on that country’s epidemic is that the cases are on a downward trend, but noted that the population continues to be informed and that the diarrhea cases which arrive in the health centers are being watched by doctors who must notify the system.
UNICEF prepares for Hurricane Tomas’ impact on Haiti
1 November 2010 – UNICEF is pre-positioning staff and supplies in anticipation of the hurricane which is expected to affect Haiti on Friday 5 November.
The cyclone, Hurricane Tomas, which has left a swath of destruction in Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines over the weekend, is expected to hit the South and West Departments of Haiti including some of the areas currently being affected by a cholera outbreak.
The Haitian government’s Department of Civil Protection, which is coordinating the island’s hurricane contingency planning, is forecasting that approximately 500,000 people – about half of them children – will be affected by Tomas which is expected to become a Category 1 hurricane by Friday.
Dan Campbell, Web
Manager
Environmental Health at USAID
1611 North Kent St., Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22209
Ph:
703-247-8722
Email: dcam...@usaid.gov
Environmental Health at USAID: http://www.ehproject.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/envhealth_usaid
Indoor Air Pollution Updates: http://iapnews.wordpress.com
Sanitation Updates: http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com
Urban Health Updates: http://urbanhealthupdates.wordpress.com
Cholera Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/cholera-control
Household Water Treatment Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/household-water-treatment