Most Cholera epidemics can be traced back to one place - The XYZ Show
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Most Cholera epidemics can be traced back to one place

Most Cholera epidemics can be traced back to one place

Cholera is a modern disease and since the start of 2017 Kenya has experienced an upsurge of cholera cases across the counties. The first case was reported in Tana River then it broke the news when it reached Nairobi. The disease is also affecting people across the Globe and according to research, close to 100,000 people are killed by the bacteria caused disease. Well, the origin of this deadly disease is Asia.

The discovery was reported and published in two science papers; one of it focused on the cholera epidemics that have struck the Americans and the other one focused on Africa. The researchers carried out different tests and studies which led them to the East. This means that the published work and the findings could also have a big impact on the battle against the disease, because it allows public health officials to concentrate their efforts on the imported strains that are likely to be the most dangerous. And it suggests there is no local reservoir for major outbreaks in Africa or the Americas, which means “elimination of cholera in these places is completely achievable,” says Dominique Legros, a cholera expert at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. “This is music to my ears.”

According to IFL, the first epidemic from the most recent spread in Africa sprung up in the 1970s, while in South America there were two; one started in Peru in 1991, while another was identified in Haiti in 2010. There has been a long-running, and often vitriolic debate over where these epidemics originated, with some arguing that in certain regions of Africa, the V. cholerae is endemic, surviving in reservoirs in the environment for years before rearing its head and starting a new epidemic.

The research illustrates how some strains of cholera are endemic, the studies found that those which cause the massive epidemics that spread quickly and kill thousands are all members of the 7PET lineage, and so all originated in Asia.

“Our results show that multiple new versions of 7PET bacteria have entered Africa since the 1970s,” explained François-Xavier Weill, who led the African research. “Once introduced, cholera outbreaks follow similar paths when spreading across that continent. The results give us a sense of where we can target specific regions of Africa for improved surveillance and control.”

And in Kenya, WHO provides that recent cholera outbreaks started in Garissa County on 2 April 2017 and was reported later in nine other counties including Nairobi, Murang’a, Vihiga, Mombasa, Turkana, Kericho, Nakuru, Kiambu, and Narok. The outbreak were being reported in the general population and in refugee camps. In Garissa County, the outbreak is affecting mainly Dadaab refugee camps and cases and deaths are being reported from Hagadera, Dagahaleh, and IFO2 camps. In Turkana county, the disease is also affecting Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps.

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