http://www.medindia.net/healthnews/Water-Borne-Diseases-news.asp Medindia largest health website in india. en-us Copyright 2013. All Rights Reserved. Sat, 25 May 2013 23:40:47 GMT http://www.medindia.net/news/affordable-vaccine-for-rotavirus-diarrhoea-developed-118874-1.htm An affordable vaccine that has shown strong efficacy in preventing rotavirus diarrhoea has been developed by Indian scientists. Rotavirus diarrhoea is the most severe and lethal cause of childhood diarrhoea that kills over 100,000 children annually. The vaccine 'Rotovac' is the outcome of public-private partnership between the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and pharma company Bharat Biotech. Once licensed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the vaccine will cost around Rs....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/affordable-vaccine-for-rotavirus-diarrhoea-developed-118874-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-lawyers-give-united-nations-a-deadline-for-cholera-compensation-118610-1.htm Haiti cholera epidemic victims widely blamed on UN peacekeepers gave the United Nations 60 days to clinch a compensation deal or face a lawsuit demand for billions of dollars. The US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti said it is now representing 8,000 victims and families of the more than 8,100 dead from the epidemic that erupted in October 2010. IJDH director Brian Concannon said the suit would be launched in New York if the United Nations did not respond by the deadline, and could also be taken in Europe....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-lawyers-give-united-nations-a-deadline-for-cholera-compensation-118610-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-cholera-gene-mutations-may-lead-to-more-severe-disease-117687-1.htm In 2010, the cholera strain that transferred to Haiti has multiple toxin gene mutations that may account for the severity of disease and is evolving to be more like an 1800s version of cholera. This was reported in a new Northwestern Medicine study. The strain, "altered El Tor," which emerged around 2000, is known to be more virulent and to cause more severe diarrhea and dehydration than earlier strains that had been circulating since the 1960s. This study reports the altered El Tor strain ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-cholera-gene-mutations-may-lead-to-more-severe-disease-117687-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/edible-malarial-vaccine-protects-against-cholera-117655-1.htm Edible malarial vaccine can help protect against a wide variety of viral and bacterial infections, say biologists. In their most recent study, researchers fused a protein that elicits an antibody response in mice against the organism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, which afflicts 225 million people worldwide, with a protein produced by the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholera, that binds to intestinal epithelial cells. They then genetically engineered algae ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/edible-malarial-vaccine-protects-against-cholera-117655-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/text-messages-help-combat-cholera-in-mozambique-114732-1.htm Aid agencies are pioneering the use of mobile phones to distribute aid in Mozambique which is hit by worst flooding in more than a decade. Mozambican flood refugee Rose Makavela's cell phone beeps. A text message confirms she can get a free bottle of chlorine at a roadside stall near her refugee camp to prevent cholera. Shopkeeper Delsio checks a matching message on his own phone, then hands her the chemical -- one of 150 bottles he's given away in only two weeks. "It's easy. Even a ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/text-messages-help-combat-cholera-in-mozambique-114732-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-cholera-damages-claim-rejected-by-un-114730-1.htm Massive damages claims filed by lawyers after UN peacekeepers were accused of introducing a cholera epidemic to Haiti were formally rejected by The United Nations on Thursday. About 8,000 people have died in the epidemic but UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the global body had told lawyers the damages claim was "non-receivable" under a 1946 convention laying out the UN's immunities for its actions. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon telephoned Haiti's President Michel Martelly on Thursday ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/haiti-cholera-damages-claim-rejected-by-un-114730-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cape-town-diarrhoea-outbreak-leaves-2800-ill-and-2-kids-dead-112959-1.htm Xinhua has reported that a diarrhoea outbreak in South Africa's Cape Town city has led to the death of at least two children and the hospitalisation of 2,800 others. Nearly 300 children were admitted at Red Cross Children's Hospital between November and December, while more than 2,500 children were treated at local clinics with moderate to severe dehydration due to diarrhoea, the Mayoral Committee for Health said. Two children, less than five years of age, died, the committee said. Spokesman ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cape-town-diarrhoea-outbreak-leaves-2800-ill-and-2-kids-dead-112959-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/second-cholera-outbreak-in-cuba-112926-1.htm A new cholera outbreak in Cuba has sickened 51 people, says the Health Ministry. The latest outbreak was from the same cholera strain found to have been introduced in Haiti by Nepalese UN peacekeepers, unleashing an epidemic in 2010 that has killed some 7,900 people. Miriam Rodriguez, who lives in the Havana neighborhood most affected by the outbreak, said her son, Ubaldo Pino, a 46-year-old barber, succumbed to the disease on January 6. "He died of cholera and that is what is on his death certificate," she told AFP....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/second-cholera-outbreak-in-cuba-112926-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/partial-vaccinations-could-fix-cholera-epidemic-in-haiti-112709-1.htm Haiti's cholera epidemic which claimed nearly 8,000 lives and made more than 635,000 people ill, could be fixed by vaccinating fewer than half of the population of 10 million, scientists said Thursday. With experts divided on the efficacy of cholera vaccination, Haiti has seen no widespread inoculation effort apart from a pilot project in 2012 that targeted one percent of people in one of the world's poorest nations. Using a mathematical model, scientists in the United States determined ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/partial-vaccinations-could-fix-cholera-epidemic-in-haiti-112709-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/nearly-200-taken-ill-after-cholera-outbreak-in-angola-112440-1.htm An outbreak of cholera has sickened at least 194 persons in one province of southern Angola since December 20. Some 35 cases have been discovered in the last 48 hours, the director of the Cahama regional hospital told the Angolan press agency, Angop. The bacterial disease is fueled by poor sanitary standards, poor precautionary measures and the rainy season which accompanies the southern African summer. Despite massive energy wealth, according to the national statistics institute 42 ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/nearly-200-taken-ill-after-cholera-outbreak-in-angola-112440-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/zambia-new-cholera-outbreak-112351-1.htm Cholera has broken out in northern Zambia, 30 cases were recorded in the past three days, says a health official. "We have so far 30 suspected cases of cholera admitted at Mambilima Mission hospital," regional medical officer Lackson Ndhlovu told public radio station Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). The outbreak was reported in Mwense district, about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the capital Lusaka. The waterborne disease comes with each rainy season in Zambia....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/zambia-new-cholera-outbreak-112351-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/un-chief-names-special-advisor-for-haiti-cholera-112137-1.htm UN chief has named a US health expert as special advisor in fighting Haiti's cholera epidemic. Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Paul Farmer, a doctor and professor at Harvard Medical School, to "help galvanize support for the elimination of cholera in Haiti," the United Nations said in a statement. He will also be charged with advising "on lessons learned" from the epidemic and "how those can be applied in Haiti and other settings," the statement added, without making any reference to the cause of the outbreak....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/un-chief-names-special-advisor-for-haiti-cholera-112137-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/major-cholera-appeal-for-haiti-launched-111350-1.htm A (Dollor) 2.2 billion appeal for a campaign to halt a cholera epidemic in Haiti has been launched by the United Nations. With the number of reported cases exceeding 620,000 since the epidemic started in October 2010, UN leader Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the "heavy toll" as he launched the 10-year initiative. Several hundred people have also been killed in neighboring Dominican Republic. Ban did not mention the cause of the epidemic, allegedly a camp of Nepalese peacekeepers in the town of ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/major-cholera-appeal-for-haiti-launched-111350-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/sierra-leone-faces-worst-cholera-epidemic-in-decades-107325-1.htm In order to contain the cholera epidemic in Sierra Leone, the biggest in decades which has claimed 271 lives so far, the Red Cross has sought for urgent need for more funds. "Although the cholera numbers are now stabilising ... this is not the time to pull back," said Amanda McClelland, an emergency health advisor for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Speaking to reporters in Geneva, she cautioned that the cases were still spreading in districts ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/sierra-leone-faces-worst-cholera-epidemic-in-decades-107325-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/nepal-tourists-warned-over-cholera-outbreak-105502-1.htm Nepal urges tourists to take precautions against cholera. 13 people died in an outbreak in the remote west of the country. Visitors were urged by GD Thakur, director of the Himalayan nation's epidemiology and disease control department, to drink boiled or mineral water and "pay attention to their personal care and hygiene". "There have been 13 deaths in two months in Doti district in western Nepal but now the situation is under control," Thakur said. "For the last 15 years there ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/nepal-tourists-warned-over-cholera-outbreak-105502-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cuba-reports-first-cholera-outbreak-in-130-years-104100-1.htm Cuba on Saturday reported country's first cholera outbreak in 130 years, with more than 150 people affected by it. The Health Ministry denied there had been a "spread" of cholera on the Communist-ruled island, blaming the incidents outside the affected town of Manzanillo on "isolated cases," that would be "treated and studied promptly." "This outbreak is not spreading," it said in a statement, the second on the outbreak since July 3. The ministry said the number of confirmed cases of ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cuba-reports-first-cholera-outbreak-in-130-years-104100-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-the-last-major-town-controlled-by-al-qaeda-linked-shehab-group-104087-1.htm Even as fighting continues in Somalia, the World Health Organization has warned that the population in Kismayo, the last major town controlled by Al-Qaeda linked Shehab insurgency group, is struggling to cope with a cholera outbreak. The UN agency "is very much concerned about the increased number of cholera cases, particularly in Kismayo town," it said in a statement, warning that the infectious diarrhoeal disease could kill within hours if untreated. "One health facility did a rapid test ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-the-last-major-town-controlled-by-al-qaeda-linked-shehab-group-104087-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-kills-three-in-cuba-103602-1.htm Cholera outbreak in eastern Cuba has killed three people, report sources. Health workers have identified 53 people infected with the illness in the coastal town of Manzanillo. In a statement published in the official newspaper Granma, Cuba's ministry of public health said in a statement that the three fatalities were elderly people aged 66, 70 and 95. Authorities said about a thousand people were receiving preventative medical treatment in Manzanillo, a town of some 130,000 inhabitants....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-kills-three-in-cuba-103602-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/detailing-2010-haitian-cholera-102980-1.htm A new study by an international team of scientists led by researchers from the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and CosmosIDTM Inc., College Park, have found two distinct strains of cholera bacteria may have contributed to the 2010 Haitian cholera outbreak. The team published its results June 18, 2012 in the IProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/I (IPNAS/I)....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/detailing-2010-haitian-cholera-102980-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/urgent-action-sought-to-contain-cholera-in-haiti-102757-1.htm Doctors Without Borders have called for urgent action to fight against cholera in Haiti which continues to claim lives. "We are worried about the lack of support from the international community and the lack of action from health authorities in Haiti," Thierry Goffeau, head of the group's Haiti operations, told AFP. Since the start of the epidemic in October 2010, 7,500 people have died from the disease that is spread through poor sanitation. This year alone, it has claimed at least 40 lives ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/urgent-action-sought-to-contain-cholera-in-haiti-102757-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/assam-sounds-alert-after-cholera-deaths-102485-1.htm Assam was put on high alert after cholera claimed four lives and took seven districts in its grip, officials said Friday. More than 500 people have fallen sick in the state. Sources in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) said Sivsagar, Darrang and Cachar districts have been identified as the worst affected. "We have formed Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in each district to control the spread of the disease," said an official. While two people died in Sivsagar, the other two deaths took place in Darrang and Cachar districts....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/assam-sounds-alert-after-cholera-deaths-102485-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/mystery-surrounding-cholera-finally-solved-102071-1.htm Scientists have been unsure about how the bacteria that gives humans cholera manages to resist one of our basic innate immune responses. The mystery that lasted for 50 years has now been solved thanks to research from biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. The answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics that don't directly shut down pathogenic bacteria such as iV. cholerae/i, but instead disable their defenses so that our own immune systems can do the killing....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/mystery-surrounding-cholera-finally-solved-102071-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-mystery-solved-101964-1.htm The 50-year old cholera mystery has been finally unraveled by scientists. That mystery has now been solved, thanks to research from biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. The answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics that don't directly shut down pathogenic bacteria such as V. cholerae, but instead disable their defenses so that our own immune systems can do the killing. Every year cholera afflicts millions of people and kills hundreds of thousands, predominantly in the developing world....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-mystery-solved-101964-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-ghana-99731-1.htm Cholera epidemic kills at least 11 people in Ghana's capital Accra, reports source. Edward Antwi, deputy regional director of public health confirmed the toll. Poor sanitation in the city has been blamed for the outbreak. Most homes in Ghana are without toilet facilities while the few that were previously available have been converted into rooms, shops and stores for rentals. Authorities have cautioned residents to be aware of the food and water they consume. Officials of the ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/cholera-outbreak-in-ghana-99731-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/prevent-new-cholera-outbreak-unicef-warns-west-africa-98494-1.htm The United Nations Children's Fund on Tuesday alerted western African governments on the need to prevent a new cholera outbreak, after the disease claimed nearly 3,000 lives there last year. Unicef's regional bureau said that "at least 105,248 cases of cholera were registered in 17 countries in 2011, and 2,898 people died" in what was one of the most severe outbreaks of the disease in years. "The region is now in the inter-season which means that the number of cases is close to zero in most affected countries," it said....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/prevent-new-cholera-outbreak-unicef-warns-west-africa-98494-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/gorakhpur-polluted-drinking-water-increasing-water-borne-diseases-98278-1.htm Media reports indicate that the contamination of drinking water is becoming a major cause of worry for residents in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city. In recent times there has been a dramatic increase in the spread of waterborne diseases. Residents of the city complain of poor water quality that has lately been causing a rise in cases of people suffering from waterborne diseases. Jitendra Dwivedi, a resident told reporters their only resort to make water safe for drinking is boil and filter it....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/gorakhpur-polluted-drinking-water-increasing-water-borne-diseases-98278-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/new-insight-into-cholera-bacterium-96790-1.htm The mechanism that cholera bacterium uses to gain foothold in the gut has been discovered by scientists. The discovery could help scientists developed new treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease, which kills more than 100,000 people every year. The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is able to colonise the intestine usually after consumption of contaminated water or food. Once infection is established, the bacterium secretes a toxin that ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/new-insight-into-cholera-bacterium-96790-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/un-reports-spike-in-cholera-cases-in-dr-congo-96700-1.htm The UN reports surge in cholera cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks. The year-long outbreak has so far infected 22,000 people and has claimed 584 lives. Aid agencies have been trying to halt the spread of the water-borne disease that has ravaged eight of the country's 11 provinces since January 2011. "There has been a spike in cases" since mid-December, with figures on the rise in the capital Kinshasa in particular, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/un-reports-spike-in-cholera-cases-in-dr-congo-96700-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Social-Media-Accurately-Tracked-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-95914-1.htm Internet-based news and Twitter feeds more rapidly tracked the onset and progression of the cholera epidemic in post-earthquake Haiti than traditional methods, shows study published in the January issue of the iAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene/i. The study is the first to demonstrate the use of data from "informal" media sources in monitoring an outbreak of a neglected tropical disease in a resource-limited setting, and shows that these sources can yield reliable decision-making ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Social-Media-Accurately-Tracked-Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-95914-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Death-Toll-From-Cholera-Nears-7000-in-Haiti-95774-1.htm The death toll from cholera epidemic in Haiti is nearing 7,000, which experts claim to be one of the worst in recent decades. Jon Kim Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization, said that as of December, on top of the deaths, the Haitian government had reported more than 520,000 cholera cases with 200 new sufferers appearing each day. Andrus said it was "one of the largest cholera outbreaks in modern history to affect a single country." There are also 21,000 cases ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Death-Toll-From-Cholera-Nears-7000-in-Haiti-95774-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Somalia-Launches-Campaign-To-Tackle-Cholera-94895-1.htm Somalian health authorities on Friday launched a campaign to curb cholera spread that has infected about 60,000 in the country since the start of the year, reports WHO. The health ministry launched the initiative in the capital Mogadishu which aims to educate at least one person in every household on preventing the disease and what to do when symptoms occur. The WHO's Horn of Africa team said there had been 60,000 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in south-central Somalia ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Somalia-Launches-Campaign-To-Tackle-Cholera-94895-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/55-Million-Needed-to-Battle-Cholera-93593-1.htm To battle cholera in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations urgently need (Dollor) 5.5 million (4.1 million euros), says UN spokeswoman. Agencies estimate that (Dollor) 3 million is required for water and sanitation and (Dollor) 2.5 million for medical care in the four provinces along the Congo river. "This (Dollor) 5.5 million is really urgently needed because the rainy season is set to begin," said Elisabeth Byrs from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Cholera is rife ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/55-Million-Needed-to-Battle-Cholera-93593-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Victims-Demand-UN-Compensation-Haiti-93156-1.htm UN peacekeepers are accused of an epidemic leaving five thousand cholera victims in Haiti launching legal action demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the United Nations, lawyers said Tuesday. The epidemic has killed 6,600 people and infected about 475,000 since it erupted one year ago. Several studies have indicated the cholera was introduced by Nepalese peacekeepers and lawyers acting for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti have filed a legal claim demanding ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Victims-Demand-UN-Compensation-Haiti-93156-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-500000-Haiti-Cholera-Cases-Expected-by-Year-End-92308-1.htm In Haiti, the number of cholera cases is expected to reach 500,000 by the end of the year, says World Health Organization. "If current trends continue, we can expect around 75,000 more cases by the end of the year bringing the total to approximately 500,000 cases since the beginning of the epidemic," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. In October, the WHO had already recorded 470,000 cases. The cholera epidemic broke out in 2010 when the disease has killed 6,600 people. The ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-500000-Haiti-Cholera-Cases-Expected-by-Year-End-92308-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Vaccine-Testing-92218-1.htm A cholera vaccine will be tested in Haiti, report officials. Over a hundred people from a Port-au-Prince shantytown and a rural area in the center of the country, where the disease was first identified in 2010, will be given the vaccine. "The Shanchol vaccine will be administered orally to the patients in two doses at six-month intervals. It has been approved by the World Health Organization but it won't replace better informing the public," health ministry director general Gabriel Timothe told AFP....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Vaccine-Testing-92218-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-Looms-Large-in-West-Central-Africa-91839-1.htm The UN children's agency warned Tuesday about one of the worst cholera epidemics looming large in the west and central Africa region, with over 85,000 cases reported leading to 2,466 deaths this year. "The size and scale of the outbreaks means the region is facing one of the biggest epidemics in its history," said a UNICEF spokeswoman. "The most significant increases in 2011 are in Chad, where it is the largest outbreak recorded, in Cameroon where nine out of 10 districts are reporting cases ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-Looms-Large-in-West-Central-Africa-91839-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Badly-Hit-by-Cholera-91694-1.htm A cholera epidemic in the Central African Republic has claimed 16 victims, a health ministry spokesman said Saturday, as another source said it had reached the capital. "The latest reports give 57 cases and 16 deaths," Modeste Hoza said, calling on residents to take precautions against transmission of the disease and not be afraid. A hospital official in Bangui said four cases had been declared in the capital and the Red Cross had intervened. Health Minister Jean-Michel Mandaba said ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Badly-Hit-by-Cholera-91694-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Hit-By-New-Cholera-Epidemic-91356-1.htm At least 10 people belonging to the Central African Republic has succumbed to a new cholera epidemic, according to the health minister Jean-Michel Mandaba. His comments came the day after a health services source sounded the alarm that cholera had killed six people in the Limbo region, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital Bangui. "The government of the Central African Republic would like to officially declare that there is a cholera epidemic in the (southern) health zones of Ombella-Mpoko ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Central-African-Republic-Hit-By-New-Cholera-Epidemic-91356-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Fresh-Cholera-Outbreak-Kills-Six-in-Nigeria-91031-1.htm A fresh cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed at least six people, raising the overall toll in the country to more than over 200 in recent months, officials said Friday. The latest outbreak was recorded in the Kebbi state town of Koko where at least 182 cholera cases were recorded in the past two weeks, the state's health commissioner Shehu Sambawa said. "We have recorded six deaths from cholera in Koko in the past two weeks that infected 182 people," Sambawa said. Around 70 ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Fresh-Cholera-Outbreak-Kills-Six-in-Nigeria-91031-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Red-Cross-Says-Cholera-Deaths-in-Chad-Could-Double-90277-1.htm Without a response the number of people in Chad infected with cholera could double to 25,000 people from the 12,713 cases recorded so far this year, the Red Cross has warned. "The risk of a wider and more serious outbreak is very real," the International Federation of the Red Cross said in a press statement. "With the peak of the rainy season coming (in September and October), it is feared that the number of cholera cases will double ... and could reach up to 20,000 to 25,000 cases," the Red Cross explained....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Red-Cross-Says-Cholera-Deaths-in-Chad-Could-Double-90277-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/35-in-Northern-Nigeria-Succumb-to-Cholera-89903-1.htm Cholera has killed 35 people in two northern Nigerian states in recent days, officials said Tuesday, with outbreaks frequent in the country during the rainy season. "We have recorded 33 deaths from a cholera outbreak which infected 690 people in six (districts) in the last four days," said Fatsuma Talba, Yobe state health commissioner. She said health personnel and drugs were being dispatched to the affected areas. In Sokoto state, two deaths and 70 infections were recorded over the ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/35-in-Northern-Nigeria-Succumb-to-Cholera-89903-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Pandemic-Traced-to-a-Bacterial-Strain-in-Bangladesh-89642-1.htm Scientists have traced the root of a cholera pandemic that has swept poor countries in three waves over nearly four decades - a bacterial strain that first emerged in Bangladesh. The current pandemic is the seventh since cholera, a water- and food-borne diarrhoeal disease caused by the Vibrio cholerae bug, emerged nearly two centuries ago. Gene sequencing of 154 samples of V. cholerae taken from patients around the world show today's pandemic can be traced to an initial outbreak of cholera ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Pandemic-Traced-to-a-Bacterial-Strain-in-Bangladesh-89642-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-in-Somalia-may-Spread-UN-89057-1.htm Cholera epidemic in Somalia could quickly spread as thousands flee famine in the south, warns UN. "The concern here is the root cases of cholera, and that is related to water and sanitation. And with the IDPs and population movement, this increases the risk of further spread of the disease, and that is our fear," Michel Yao, a public health advisor at the UN health agency, told reporters. "With cholera, everyone is at risk, but the conditions are perfect for transmission now in Mogadishu," ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Epidemic-in-Somalia-may-Spread-UN-89057-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/River-Flow-Associated-With-Cholera-Outbreaks-88683-1.htm The increased nutrient-rich and powerful river discharge contributes to outbreaks of cholera and not just global warming, shows study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. /IThe findings by the authors will help give public health authorities another critical clue toward predicting future outbreaks of cholera based on climatic and environmental models in the hopes of preventing the spread of the deadly and highly infectious disease that currently plagues Haiti and several other countries....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/River-Flow-Associated-With-Cholera-Outbreaks-88683-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/People-in-Congo-Ignore-Cholera-Warnings-88371-1.htm People in DRCongo still drinking river water despite the warnings about cholera. "I drink the water from the river, why not?" Fils Keto said defiantly. "Water's water!" On the banks of the Congo river in Kinshasa, old habits are proving hard to break despite an outbreak of cholera that has already claimed 279 lives. Keto, a man in his 30s dressed sharply in jeans and white tee-shirt, was not bothered -- though he had no idea how the disease was caught. In any case, said Keto, ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/People-in-Congo-Ignore-Cholera-Warnings-88371-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Reports-Surge-in-Cholera-Cases-in-Haiti-86850-1.htm Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince reports spike in cholera cases as more than 18,000 new cases have been recorded since May, according to World Health Organisation. The bacterial infection has already killed 5,397 people in the troubled nation. The outbreak started not long after a January 2010 earthquake devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands. "Since May 2011, there has been an increase in cholera cases in some areas in Haiti especially around Port-au-Prince and the Southern ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/WHO-Reports-Surge-in-Cholera-Cases-in-Haiti-86850-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Predict-Cholera-Outbreaks-With-Weather-Forecasts-85804-1.htm Scientists are closing in on a forecast model that may soon be able to predict future cholera outbreaks based on increases in temperature and rainfall, according to a study published Tuesday. An analysis of several years of past data in cholera-prone parts of Zanzibar, Tanzania, showed that when temperatures rose one degree Celsius, cholera cases were likely to double within four months, said scientists at the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, South Korea. A small increase in rainfall (200-milliliter or 6....]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Predict-Cholera-Outbreaks-With-Weather-Forecasts-85804-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Republic-Cholera-Toll-Rises-to-23-85580-1.htm In Dominican Republic at least 23 people have died of cholera, and 1,288 have been infected following an outbreak in neighboring Haiti last year, say officials. The health ministry released the new toll on Thursday, saying that in the last three weeks alone the number of dead has nearly doubled from 13 and the number of infections has risen by more than 400. The government said it had installed two new laboratories for detecting the disease, but Health Minister Bautista Rojas said he ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Dominican-Republic-Cholera-Toll-Rises-to-23-85580-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-Linked-to-SAsian-Strain-84589-1.htm The Haiti cholera outbreak that has claimed the lives of more than 4,850 people bears similarity to a South Asian strain of the disease, says US panel. A panel of international health experts on Wednesday said the source of epidemic was "debatable" but that the United Nations "worldwide" must change the way it handles peacekeepers' health. The experts said the evidence "overwhelmingly supports" the conclusion that the Haiti epidemic was due to the contamination of a river near the Nepalese ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Haiti-Cholera-Outbreak-Linked-to-SAsian-Strain-84589-1.htm http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Outbreak-in-Cameroon-84141-1.htm Cameroon in West Africa is seeing an outbreak of cholera that has infected 3,000 people and has claimed 150 casualties already. Plan International, a charity organization, has warned that many more hundreds would die daily, if aid did not come soon to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Mfoundi, the worst affected district, has reported 500 new cases and 46 deaths in one week, and the capital Yaounde has more than 1,500 sick people. Baro Famari, the country's director for Plan International, said ...]]> http://www.medindia.net/news/Cholera-Outbreak-in-Cameroon-84141-1.htm