Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update 2006 (38)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

In this update:
Africa
[1] Cholera - Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
[2] Cholera - Niger
[3] Diarrhea - Ethiopia
[4] Cholera - Nigeria (Sokoto)

[5], [6] Shigellosis - Russia (Chuvashia)

[7] Cholera - Worldwide - WHO WER Notifications
[8] Cholera - Worldwide - WHO WER Notifications

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[1] Cholera - Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
Source: Daily News - Tanzania Standard Newspapers [edited]
<http://www.dailynews-tsn.com/page.php?id=3552 >


Cholera is on the increase in most parts of Dar es Salaam, with 71
people currently admitted to various special camps. City Chief
Medical Officer Deo Mtasiwa told the press that 26 new cases were
reported on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 against 25 recorded on 17 Sep 2006.

According to Dr Mtasiwa, by 17 Sep 2006, 39 patients were already
undergoing treatment at Buguruni Mnyamani (Ilala), Tandika
Tambukareli (Temeke), and Mburahati (Kinondoni), before the number
rose to 49 on the next day.

The special camp had admitted some 39 cholera victims for treatment
before admitting 32 more on 21 Sep 2006. No deaths have been reported
due to [effective] teamwork and preparedness, Dr Mtasiwa told
reporters.

******
[2] Cholera - Niger
Source: International Herald Tribune [edited]
<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/22/news/UN_GEN_UN_Niger_Cholera.php >


A cholera outbreak in Niger has infected more than 200 people and
caused 18 deaths in the last 3 weeks, UN officials said on Fri, 22
Sep 2006.

Health officials have been fearing cholera outbreaks in a number of
African countries due to flooding in recent months. Heavy rains since
Jul 2006 have left thousands in Niger homeless, according to the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"Urgent measures have to be taken to control the outbreak of the
disease and to prevent the spread of other water-borne diseases,"
said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman with the agency.

Byrs told reporters in Geneva that 214 people were reported infected
in the West African country so far in Sep 2006. The 18 deaths all
occurred in the south of the country.

The UN health agency also said it was monitoring the outbreak, noting
that it is a recurrent problem in Niger, where there was a large
outbreak during 2005.

"We're concerned in Niger because they have a high case-fatality
rate," said Claire-Lise Chaignat, a cholera expert at the World
Health Organization.


******
[3] Diarrhea - Ethiopia
Source: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)[edited]
<http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6TSJ2P?OpenDocument>


Another 49 people have died within a week of acute watery diarrhea in
Ethiopia, raising the death toll since the disease broke out in Apr
2006 to 182, with almost 20 000 others infected, the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tue, 19
Sep 2006.

In a weekly bulletin, OCHA said the disease had spread to all 5
regions of the country, including the capital, Addis Ababa.

"Last week, 1608 acute watery diarrhea cases and 49 deaths were
reported across the country, bringing the total to 19 176, with 182
deaths," the bulletin said. "To date, the outbreak is reported in 5
regions and the city administration in Addis Ababa."

With the eastern and southern parts of the country already ravaged by
floods that have claimed at least 647 lives and displaced thousands
since Aug 2006, the Ethiopian Red Cross feared on Tue, 19 Sep 2006,
that this situation could exacerbate the epidemic and lead to a
full-scale cholera epidemic.

"The flooding is an aggravating factor in the further spread of acute
watery diarrhea [AWD] and malaria, which is endemic. AWD often leads
to outbreaks of cholera if not treated immediately," the
International Federation of the Red Cross and the Ethiopian Red Cross
said in an appeal to donors for help to contain the situation.

******
[4] Cholera - Nigeria (Sokoto)
Source: AllAfrica.com and Daily Trust (Abuja)[edited]
<http://allafrica.com/stories/200609181341.html>


About 40 villagers from Kwannawa in Dange-Shuni local government area
of Sokoto state have so far died from gastroenteritis (Cholera) [the
cholera designation is not from ProMED - Mod.LL] over the weekend.

The outbreak of the disease was reported to the Ministry of Health on
Thursday by officials from Dange-Shuni local government as about 6
villages have so far been affected. Disclosing this to Daily Trust at
the temporary medical camp situated behind army barracks in Sokoto,
the Deputy Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health
of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Khadi, said official [case] figures as of
yesterday, 17 Sep 2006, stood at 9 while a senior official from the
Dange-Shuni local government council put the figure at 22.

The deputy director however said the cause of the outbreak is still
unknown. Water samples from different wells where the villagers fetch
water for domestic use have been taken while investigations are being
carried out.

However, the information coordinator of the Nigerian Red Cross
Society in Sokoto state, Malam Ahmed Are Ashige, told Daily Trust
that over 30 people have so far died since the outbreak of the
disease, explaining that about 9 people from Kwannawa died at the
camp while over 22 from the surrounding villages lost their lives in
the last 4 days.

******
[5] Shigellosis - Russia (Chuvashia)
Source: NewsInfo.ru [translation by Mod NR; edited]
< http://www.newsinfo.ru/news/2006/09/news1329783.php>


Shigellosis ([infection with] _Shigella sonnei_) was reported among
children in Chuvashia. According to information from the ministry of
emergency situations in Russia, children affected were confined in a
Republican Children's Sanatorium in the village of Shomikovo in the
district of Morgushev. According to preliminary data, the poisoning
happened due to cottage cheese that did not go through proper thermal
processing. Currently 61 children are hospitalized due to shigellosis.


******
[6] Shigellosis - Russia (Chuvashia)
Source:  Grani.ru [translation by Mod.NR; edited]
<http://grani.ru/Events/m.111429.html>


According to Interfax, shigellosis has been reported in children in a
sanatorium for children with rheumatism. In the city of Cheboksari,
74 children aged 7 to 15 years old were hospitalized in different
hospitals.

The Ministry of Health has organized a special committee that will
conduct epidemiological investigations. The last mass outbreak of
intestinal disease in Cheboksari was when 70 schoolchildren were
hospitalized with a preliminary diagnosis of intestinal infection.


******
[7] Cholera - Worldwide - WHO WER notifications
Source: WHO Epidemiological Record [edited]
<http://www.who.int/wer/2006/wer8137/en/index.html>


Notifications of cholera received from 8 to 14 Aug 2006
-----------------------------------------------
Country / Dates / Cases / Deaths
Africa
Ghana      2 Jan-25 Jun 2006/ 1869/ 79
Guinea     10 Jul-6 Aug 2006/ 104/ 2
Liberia    7-13 Aug 2006/ 57/ 0
Mauritania 2 Jan-25 Jun 2006/ 25/ 0
Togo       2 Jan-25 Jun 2006/ 718/ 11
Tanzania   24-30 Jun 2006/ 39/ 1
Americas
Canada      12-31 Jul 2006/ 1 (i)/ 0

i= imported

******
[8]
Source: WHO Epidemiological Record [edited]
<http://www.who.int/wer/2006/wer8138/en/index.html>


Notifications of cholera received from 15 to 21 Aug 2006
-----------------------------------------------
Country / Dates / Cases / Deaths
Africa
Angola  16 Aug-3 Sep 2006 / 837 / 20
Nigeria  24 Jul-3 Sep 2006 / 1200 / 64
Guinea  7 Aug-3 Sep 2006 / 71 / 9
Liberia  14 Aug-3 Sep 2006 / 822 / 0
Zimbabwe 19 Jun-26 Jul 2006 / 57 / 9
Asia
China 1 Jan-1 Sep 2006 / 1 / 0