Cholera Outbreaks On The Rise

Brooke Edmonds

October, 27, 2010

6:08pm

Over the past week all around the world, cases of cholera have continued to rise. Cholera is a diarrheal disease that can kill someone within hours if it is left untreated. It is caused by polluted water in areas that have unsanitary conditions. The pollute in the contaminated water usually comes from feces of an infected person or it just occurs naturally. Nations like Haiti and Nigeria are being most widely affected by the disease. Haiti’s department of public health have have reported 4,147 cases and 292 deaths. Nigeria reports that this case is their nations worst ever confirming more than 1,500 dead. Not only is Haiti and Nigeria being affected, but four other African nations as well. This new epidemic is making people question why so many outbreaks are happening? The World Health Organization (WHO) states that its because the conditions of the area. When areas have inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water diseases like cholera can spread rapidly. WHO also says that the number of cases are still on the rise. Officials say that practicing healthier habits such as washing hands could make a huge difference.

This week is the first time I had ever heard of this disease. Its bad that something like clean water conditions could make all the difference in keeping people from getting the disease. This case of cholera would be considered a social global problem because it is affecting a wide range of people. Tens of thousands of people are dying from cholera from becoming severely dehydrated. This problem can be fixed but its going to take a very long time before people in these nations can get clean drinking water and good sewage conditions. People need to start taking small steps to protect themselves like washing their hands and staying clean. Little steps like this is all nations can do for now to keep the numbers of cases from rising.

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/27/cholera-cases-rising-around-the-world/