Study of an infectious disease

Cholera cases (2004-2007)

Cholera Cases - 2003

Cholera Deaths - 2003

What is Cholera? Infectious disease caused by a

bacterium that affects the absorption of water in the small intestine.

Danger aspect! – if vast loss of fluid occurs in a short space of time.

If untreated…loss of fluid can be fatal within 24 hours of developing the disease.

Cholera Cholera’s spread is related to standards

of hygiene and the quality of drinking water.

It was a single well in London in the 1850-60s that was the source of several separate cholera epidemics.

Where does it occur?Asia and Africa ‘El Tor’ cholera reaches Peru in early

1990s and then spreads to the rest of Latin America and then Central America.

Densely populated, poor areas with little sanitation and unsatisfactory food hygiene are particularly affected by epidemics.

How is it transmitted? Bacteria are excreted in faeces and if this

comes into contact with drinking water, the bacteria can infect people.

Bacteria can also spread to food if people don't wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet.

The food prepared at the funeral of a cholera victim is a common source of secondary spread in Africa!

The disease can be spread through fish and shellfish from contaminated water.

Cholera in Zimbabwe In the past few years the number of

deaths from cholera in Zimbabwe has increased rapidly.

What do you know about the situation in Zimbabwe?

Does cholera in Zimbabwe matter on a global scale?

Zimbabwe riot police broke up protests by doctors and nurses demonstrating in Harare as the health service fights the country’s worst cholera outbreak on record

Hospitals in Zimbabwe are battling a shortage of drugs and are struggling to find basic equipment to operate laboratories and surgical facilities, and many have closed completely

Some Zimbabweans have attempted to leave the country for treatment, many heading to the better equipped facilities in neighbouring South Africa.

The water delivery system has broken down in many Zimbabwean cities because of a lack of chemicals to treat the supply, leaving residents no option but to drink from contaminated wells & streams .