The Papua New Guinea cholera outbreak was an outbreak of cholera along the Northern Coast of Papua New Guinea. It was the country's first outbreak of cholera in 50 years,[1] and spread across the country from two coastal villages near Lae to villages around MAdang and to remote areas along the Sepik River. [2]
History
editThe outbreak began in Morobe Province in July 2009, but by February 2010, it had spread to Madang and East Sepik, according to World Health Organization representative Eigil Sorensen. The rapid spread of the disease was due to poor water sanitation, and travel by infected people who did not show symptoms. According to Sorensen, many areas of Papua New Guinea, often crowded settlements or the outskirts of cities with no proper sewage systems, provided the "ideal conditions" for a nationwide cholera epidemic, and the disease was "gradually spreading" all over the country.
An estimated 2,000 cases have been confirmed, but only 50 people have died.
References
edit- ^ "Papua New Guinea: First cholera cases in 50 years". ReliefWeb. 2009-09-07. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
- ^ Horwood, Paul F; Karl, Stephan; Mueller, Ivo; Jonduo, Marinjho H; Pavlin, Boris I; Dagina, Rosheila; Ropa, Berry; Bieb, Sibauk; Rosewell, Alexander; Umezaki, Masahiro; Siba, Peter M; Greenhill, Andrew R (2014). "Spatio-temporal epidemiology of the cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea, 2009–2011". BMC Infectious Diseases. 14 (1). doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-449. ISSN 1471-2334. PMC 4158135. PMID 25141942.
- "Cholera hits 2,000 in PNG: officials". The Sydney Morning Herald. February 8, 2010.
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