Hailey Ward
11/19/2010
3:10pm
Blog 12
The first known case of cholera in the U.S. has been linked to the cholera epidemic in Haiti. The woman contracted the disease while visiting relatives in Haiti. The women spent five days in the hospital with severe dehydration resulting from diarrhea and vomiting. She is expected to make a full recovery. The outbreak in Haiti has claimed the lives of hundreds. The sanitation conditions in Haiti make cholera hard to control. Cholera is spread through contaminated water or food, usually containing feces from an infected person. The health officials in Florida are not too concerned with the disease spreading. The sound infrastructure for food, water, and sewage prevents diseases like cholera from spreading. The influx if cholera in the United States, specifically Florida, was inevitable. Florida is home to around 250,000 people of Haitian descent, many who travel to and from Haiti to visit family. Travel has increased after the deadly earthquake in January. The cholera in Haiti is going to be very difficult to eradicate. The devastation left behind after the earthquake has made it harder to prevent and treat diseases like cholera. The poor sanitation conditions allow cholera to spread farther and to more people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/us/18florida.html?_r=1&ref=health
2 comments:
There should be no worry that cholera will spread among the US. The disease spread based on poor sanitation, but the sanitation quality and facilities are far better than Haiti. I think the media has over-reacted to this 'first' (only one) cholera case in the US.
It is understandable why cholera is easily spread in Haiti because of low sanitation and poor sewage systems. It would be difficult for this disease to spread in the United States since we have easier and better access to health care.
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