During the current seventh cholera pandemic, africa bore the major brunt of global disease burden. In africa in the time of cholera, echenberg chronicles how, within a century, cholera has been transformed from an imported scourge to an african disease. More than 800,000 lost their lives, and the disease also spread to eastern europe, north africa, the middle east, and, russia. Since then, south africa has really been trying to prevent and control it and to treat people who have the disease. The war situation in yemen is regarded to be one of the biggest factors responsible for the disease outbreak. Cholera is an infectious bacterial disease caused by vibrio cholerae, which usually exist in warm, salty bodies of water. Cholera became a problem in southern africa in the early 1970s. In much the same way as occurred when cholera struck the americas in the early 1990s, events in haiti galvanized public and political attention to the problem of epidemic cholera, reenergized the public health sector, and yielded new guidelines and training materials in french and english that can be of immediate benefit in africa 18, 19.
Nigeria is located in west africa and shares land borders with the republic of benin in the west, chad and cameroon in the east, and niger in the north. The destruction of the infrastructure, health and sanitation systems in large parts of the. Review of cholera epidemic in south africa, with focus on. There are five subdistricts namely kissi, elmina, komenda, ankaful and agona subdistricts each with a health. W and is located in the north western part of the northern region of ghana as shown in figure 2 and carved out of the bole district. Introduction global situation cholera is on the rise with an estimated 1. Cholera situation in 20162017 in the horn of africa and the gulf of aden. Cholera outbreak response action plan and all partners are being requested to make their contributions available before christmas. Cholera is most common in south asia, particularly in the indian subcontinent, and is endemoepidemic in several countries in africa. On may 6th, 2010, suspect cholera cases were reported from the district of makary in the far north region of cameroon.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated. Seven cholera pandemics, all originating in asia, occurred. Increase of cholera cases in the horn of africa and the. Declared in june 2014, the west and central african cholera outbreak as of january 25, 2015 claimed 1,683 registered deaths and over 91,361 reported cases with a reported case fatality rate cfr of 2% in 11 countries, which is 3 times more than in 20. From 2007 to 2012, at least 20 african countries reported more than 100,000 cases of cholera world health organization who weekly epidemiological records, 20072012. Cholera can also negatively impact the tourism sector and subsequent loss of livelihoods. The infection is transmitted when people consume the infected water. Cholera has existed for hundreds of years, with its first deadly outbreak in india in 1817. Researchers have estimated that each year there are 1. Cholera sweeps west african slums the new york times. Epidemiological dynamics of a bacterial meningitis. Cholera is endemic in the middle east, africa, central and south america, parts of asia and the gulf coast of the united states but outbreaks can occur in any country. More than 40 years after its resurgence in africa in 1970, cholera remains a grave public health problem, characterized by large disease burden, frequent outbreaks, persistent endemicity, and high cfrs, particularly in the region of the central african great lakes which might act as.
The region is broadly affected by many cholera cases and outbreaks that. Regional update, 2014 week 49 wa trends in cholera cases, 20 and 2014 cumulative attack rate, weeks 149, nigeria the boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply any endorsement or acceptance by the united nations s ate attack rate per 10,000 population. In that same year, the cholera case fatality rate in subsaharan africa 1. In the period between 2000 and 2012, 43,474 cholera cases are reported. The cholera library of the humanitarian response west and central africa website publishes weekly reports of cholera incidence and deaths collected from ministries of health and compiled by the west and central africa office of unicef. The case fatality ratio is high in the sahelian area, equal or greater than 2%, especially in nigeria, chad, cameroon and niger. Methods study area this study was conducted in the buea health district in the south west region of cameroon in 2011. Since the beginning of this millennium, global cholera incidence has increased steadily with 24% more cases reported between 2004 and 2008 compared with 2000 and 2004, reyburn et al. Cholera outbreaks in nigeria are associated with multidrug. A cholera outbreak in the southern african country of zambia centered on the capital lusaka has led to an indefinite cancellation of some school openings and church services. Outbreaks of cholera are associated with inadequate sanitation and lack of safe drinking water.
Cholera is a global threat, particularly, in areas where sanitary conditions, such as drinking water and sewage, are not available. Unicef strategic framework for cholera in eastern and. More than 104,095 cholera acute watery diarrhea awd cases and 1562 deaths case fatality rate. Implications of all available evidence cholera remains a substantial threat to human health in subsaharan africa and. This article describes lessons learnt during the crossborder cholera outbreak control in eastern and southern africa subregions using.
Since the beginning of the cholera outbreak in august 2015, a cumulative 43,073 cases including 1,220 deaths case fatality rate 2. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea. The reemergence of cholera is presenting unprecedented challenges 1,2. Review of cholera epidemic in south africa, with focus on kzn province, august 2000 11th april 2001 8 months 1.
The data are based on john snow s and the general board of health s investigation of the cholera epidemic in the. Cholera, largely eliminated from industrialized countries by water and sewage treatment over a century ago, still remains a significant cause of illness and death in many african countries. It takes between 12 hours and 5 days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water 2. Between 1970 and 2011, african countries reported 3,221,050 suspected cholera cases to the world health organization, representing 46 % of all cases reported globally. These outbreaks affect all categories of people and are challenging to prevent and control. There are five subdistricts namely kissi, elmina, komenda, ankaful and agona subdistricts each with a health center and ankaful hospital serves as the district hospital. The most lethal cholera pandemic occurred from 1910 to1911, also originating in india.
Cholera can spread easily and even a person who looks healthy can carry cholera germs. Major epidemics occur periodically in less developed countries. The satellitederived 3hourly precipitation estimates are bias corrected with monthly surface observations from gauge stations. The first case confirmed in kwazulu natal on 14th august, 2000 and is the most affected province. Learning latitude and longitude with africa class title. The patient that was visited by the medical advisor at tshwane district hospital, who was sleeping in the street, before hospitalization and was critically ill, has died on 21 december. In august 2000, south africa experienced the start of one of the worst cholera epidemics nationwide in recent history. Cholera outbreaks in 12 eastern and southern african countries. Assessing the risk factors of cholera epidemic in the buea. Africa in the time of cholera should remain the standard treatment of this subject for years. It is also considered to be one of the deadliest epidemics of the 21st century to date. Environmental data were taken at the meteorological station of the international airport of lusaka flls676650, whose geographical coordinates are 15. Cholera incidence and mortality in subsaharan african. Soho cholera spatial analysis the objective of this tutorial is to identify with competing but related spatial analysis methods where most to the cholera deaths were concentrate and which pump was the closest to the cholera death.
In the 14 countries of west and central africa there have been 40,799 cholera cases this year, and 846 deaths, with over half the reported cases originating in. This was the last serious european cholera outbreak. Extreme precipitation in the west african cities of dakar. Christopher cumo, canadian bulletin of medical history echenberg has nicely summarized the history of cholera for the wellknown africa studies series, organizing his work by combining the first six pandemics 1817 to 1947 for the initial half of. Pierce md prof d a viral gastroenteritis unit, centers for disease. Regarding the americas, cholera outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in mexico, haiti, the. Cdc was invited by the cameroon ministry of public health moph as well as the world.
This issue of focus was adapted from the following online training on the. In this competition you are racing against the other members of the class to try and complete the questions as quick as possible. Mapping for surveillance and outbreak investigation. In comparison, for the first four months in 2017, somalia reported 36 066 suspected cholera cases, including 697 deaths cfr. The regional cholera platform in west and central africa wca was launched in 2012 to facilitate and systematize information sharing read more eastern and sothern africa plateform. John snow used both maps figure 1 and statistical data to trace the source of the outbreak to a public water pump on broad street and show that the well had been contaminated by sewage from a nearby cesspit. Africa latitude and longitude and relative locations. Assessment of the response to cholera outbreaks in two.
More than 40 years after its resurgence in africa in 1970, cholera remains a grave public health. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels. Department of geography medical, university of british columbia, 1984 west mall, vancouver, bc v6t 1z2, canada. The persistence or control of cholera in africa will be a key indicator of global efforts to reach the millennium development goals and of recent commitments by leaders of. The ongoing pandemic, the 7th, has been caused by v. The economic damage caused by cholera can be compounded by the international reaction. The third cholera pandemic mainly affected russia, with over one million deaths it also spread in south east asia, chicago, london ended after john snow discovered the water source, venezuela and brazil 10. In the twentyfirst century, subsaharan africa bears the brunt of global cholera. The republic of guinea is located in west africa, between 7. The deadliest epidemics of the 21st century so far. By october in the far north region, most burdened by the epidemic, 7,822 cases and 518 had been confirmed.
Learning latitude and longitude with africa section. In 2016, 15 619 suspected cholera cases including 531 deaths were reported in somalia 6. Although cholera has disappeared as a publichealth problem in developed countries, it remains a major concern in subsahara africa 1,2. In subsaharan africa excluding djibouti and eritrea, a mean of 141 918 cholera cases 95% credible interval cri 141 538146 505 were reported per year. Glass, viral gastroenteritis unit g04, centers for disease control, 1600 clifton road, n. Elsewhere in subsaharan africa, cholera occurs mostly in outbreaks of varying size with a constant threat of widespread epidemics. Komendaedinaeguafoabirem keea municipal in the central region of ghana, shown in fig. By july 2001, 106 389 people had been infected and 232 had died. Cholera outbreak in zambia leads to school, church. Author summary cholera is acute watery diarrhoea, severely dehydrating, caused by vibrio cholerae, a bacterium ubiquitous in aquatic environments. Crossborder cholera outbreaks in subsaharan africa, the. Mapping the burden of cholera in subsaharan africa and. Introduction crossborder cholera outbreaks are a major public health problem in subsaharan africa contributing to the high annual reported cholera cases and deaths.
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