[Vnbiz] Cholera spreads in Vietnam

[Tai Phan]

  Cholera spreads in Vietnam      *Posted :* Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:20:05
GMT *Author
:* DPA  *Category :* Health
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<http://www.earthtimes.org/myrssfeeds.php>      Hanoi - A cholera outbreak
that began in mid-March has expanded to 16 provinces throughout Vietnam and
infected at least 121 people, health officials said Thursday. "The situation
is dangerous, and the possibility that the outbreak will further expand to
other provinces is very high," said Nguyen Huy Nga, director of the Ministry
of Heath's Preventive Medicine Department.

Nga said the cause of the outbreak's spread was contaminated water sources,
leading to the contamination of food, especially vegetables.

"Many people don't have hygienic toilets, and others defecate into rivers or
in the fields, resulting in the spread of the bacteria," Nga said. "It's
more difficult to contain the situation in the countryside, where farmers
use human feces to fertilize vegetables."

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health sent an urgent message to
provinces nationwide, requiring them to take necessary measures to contain
the cholera outbreak.

The message urges provinces to tighten food hygiene, ban unhygienic food
shops, and closely monitor infected people.

"The best way to contain the outbreak is to urge people to eat cooked food
and water and to use hygienic toilets," said Nguyen Tran Hien, director of
the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

Late last year, more than 300 people were infected with cholera in an
outbreak that expanded to 11 provinces in northern Vietnam, prompting local
authorities to ban a popular fermented shrimp paste, which was blamed for
half of the cases.

No one reportedly died from the outbreak last year, although health
officials warned that dehydration could kill some patients if not treated
immediately.

Cholera chiefly spreads through drinking water or eating food contaminated
with cholera bacteria.
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