Cholera News and Research

Latest Cholera News and Research

Haiti's cholera epidemic, the hemisphere's worst in decades, neglected by international community

"Cholera in Haiti is the worst epidemic that this hemisphere has seen in decades, yet it has received relatively little attention," Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and president of Just Foreign Policy writes in this Al Jazeera opinion piece, adding, "The international community has failed Haiti in so many ways and for so many years that it is almost unimaginable."

12 Sep 2011

Cholera epidemics spread through West and Central Africa affecting tens of thousands, OCHA reports

"Cholera epidemics have hit tens of thousands of people and killed more than 1,400 others in seven West and Central African countries since the start of the year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Tuesday," AlertNet reports.

9 Sep 2011

Building up public sector in Haiti key to controlling cholera

The U.N.'s Pan-American Health Organization, the United States and the international community "should be working with the Haitian Health Ministry to wage a more aggressive and effective effort" against the cholera epidemic that hit the country last year, and those efforts "should include not only clean water and sanitation systems but more antibiotics and cholera vaccinations," a New York Times editorial says.

8 Sep 2011

U.N. declares famine in sixth region of Somalia, expresses concern over spread of disease

The U.N. "announced Monday that Somalia's famine had spread to a sixth area within the country, with officials warning that 750,000 people could die in the next few months unless aid efforts were scaled up," the New York Times reports.

7 Sep 2011

UNFPA Executive Director to visit refugee camps in Kenya on 3 September

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is visiting refugee camps in Kenya to underscore the urgent needs of women affected by the famine in the Horn of Africa.

3 Sep 2011

Many women give birth in Haiti's tent camps without medical services

In the refugee camps in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince nearly two years after a devastating earthquake, "health and human rights officials warn of another crisis: an explosion of tent babies," the Miami Herald reports.

31 Aug 2011

Cholera strain associated with latest pandemic originated in Bangladesh, researchers report

"A cholera pandemic that has swept poor countries in three waves over nearly four decades has been traced to a bacterial strain that first emerged in Bangladesh, scientists reported on Wednesday," Agence France-Presse reports.

26 Aug 2011

Researchers trace source of latest cholera pandemic

Researchers have used next generation sequencing to trace the source and explain the spread of the latest (seventh) cholera pandemic. They have also highlighted the impact of the acquisition of resistance to antibiotics on shaping outbreaks and show resistance was first acquired around 1982.

25 Aug 2011

Lack of access to water, sanitation in urban areas contributes to disease, impacts economies, water conference hears

"How best to provide clean water and sanitation to the world's cities and their expanding slums is the overriding theme of World Water Week, which opened Monday in Stockholm," Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

24 Aug 2011

DTU, TGen researchers pinpoint source of cholera outbreak in Haiti

Employing technology that reads the entire DNA code, researchers led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have pinpointed the source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000.

24 Aug 2011

FAO holds second emergency meeting on Famine; WHO warns of cholera spread; Turkish PM visits Mogadishu

For the second time in one month, representatives of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held an emergency meeting on Thursday in Rome "to take stock of the humanitarian disaster" in the Horn of Africa, the Guardian reports.

20 Aug 2011

Harmless bacteria re-engineered to fight a deadly strain

Scientists in Singapore have re-engineered a harmless strain of bacteria to fight another common, drug-resistant microbe that spreads in hospitals and is deadly to patients with weak immune systems.

17 Aug 2011

Disease outbreaks, looting hampering relief efforts in Somalia famine

"Outbreaks of measles and cholera are striking down Somali children already weakened by hunger, resulting in dozens of new fatalities," the Guardian reports (Rice, 8/13).

16 Aug 2011

Nearly 6,000 dead in Haitian cholera outbreak, health ministry says

"The number of cholera fatalities in Haiti has risen to just short of 6,000, the health ministry said Sunday," Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

16 Aug 2011

Somalia faces cholera epidemic

World Health Organization (WHO) officials announced last Friday that famine-stricken Somalia faces a cholera epidemic as dirty water and poor sanitation are leading to an increase in outbreaks of the disease. The reports reveal cases of acute watery diarrhea - an important indicator of the risk of cholera - are now at 4,272 in Somalia - an 11 percent increase from last week’s WHO reported figure of 3,839.

15 Aug 2011

Members of U.S. delegation to Horn of Africa discuss response efforts

The August 8 visit of a U.S. delegation to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa "was important in terms of shedding light on the important efforts that are under way and the importance of continued support from the international community," Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Eric Schwartz said on Tuesday during a briefing on the trip, IIP Digital reports.

11 Aug 2011

New computational model could forecast cholera outbreaks

Just as the rainy season is driving a new surge of cholera cases in Haiti, a new computational model could forecast where outbreaks are likely to occur.

11 Aug 2011

Economist examines cholera, possible solutions to mitigate disease

The Economist in its current issue examines cholera, including the disease's history, current outbreaks, and research into vaccines and sanitation.

30 Jul 2011

Cholera in Congo has killed 279, infected more than 4,000 people

A UNICEF official says a cholera outbreak in Congo has killed 279 people and infected more than 4,000 others in the last four months," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

29 Jul 2011

U.N. officials reiterate clean drinking water and sanitation are human rights issues

One year after the U.N. General Assembly "adopted a resolution declaring that safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right," top U.N. officials on Wednesday "stressed the need to realize the human right to water and sanitation, stating that it is critical not only to a life of dignity but also to achieving progress in the areas such as poverty reduction, boosting child health and combating diseases," the U.N. News Centre reports.

29 Jul 2011