Cholera - India
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Cholera- India
Members of the World Health Organisation; Ladies and Gentlemen and Guests. An outbreak of cholera disease has occurred in the Bengal region of Eastern India and is spreading throughout the country at an alarming rate. Cholera is a water-based disease which can kill a person within days, if not treated. There are also signs of the unrelenting disease spreading to neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and Sri Lanka. Although Cholera is usually not life threatening, it appears the symptoms need to be examined so that this disease is either eliminated or controlled. Poor nutrition, poverty and contaminated food and water can cause severe forms of diarrhoea. Diagram 1 shows people typically affected by Cholera. Some are being treated to replenish their vital fluids. (Hayhurst, Cholera, 2001, p.4)
Diagram 2
KEY
INDIA
Map Source: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://volunteer-nepal.abroaderview.org/images/cholera_map_asia.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.mountainvolunteer.org/abou
Most scientists believe the first major cholera outbreak, took place in eastern India in 1817, in a region known as Bengal. Life was harsh, villages were poor, many were starving and under nourished, as drought left much of the land cracked and useless. Hence, it was difficult to grow food crops. The water that could be scrounged was dirty frequently contaminated with garbage and human sewage. In these most vulnerable conditions the world was bound to see the outbreak of a deadly disease called Cholera. According to Hayhurst, “The Vibrio Cholerae Bacterium thrives in human faeces. And in the unsanitary conditions of early 19th century India Cholera found a welcoming home as faeces made it into the water supply and ultimately into the guts of those who drank the water or washed their food in it.” The following diagram (3) illustrates the Cholerae Bacteria. An outbreak of cholera usually occurs in the wet season where the water is easier to...
Members of the World Health Organisation; Ladies and Gentlemen and Guests. An outbreak of cholera disease has occurred in the Bengal region of Eastern India and is spreading throughout the country at an alarming rate. Cholera is a water-based disease which can kill a person within days, if not treated. There are also signs of the unrelenting disease spreading to neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and Sri Lanka. Although Cholera is usually not life threatening, it appears the symptoms need to be examined so that this disease is either eliminated or controlled. Poor nutrition, poverty and contaminated food and water can cause severe forms of diarrhoea. Diagram 1 shows people typically affected by Cholera. Some are being treated to replenish their vital fluids. (Hayhurst, Cholera, 2001, p.4)
Diagram 2
KEY
INDIA
Map Source: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://volunteer-nepal.abroaderview.org/images/cholera_map_asia.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.mountainvolunteer.org/abou
Most scientists believe the first major cholera outbreak, took place in eastern India in 1817, in a region known as Bengal. Life was harsh, villages were poor, many were starving and under nourished, as drought left much of the land cracked and useless. Hence, it was difficult to grow food crops. The water that could be scrounged was dirty frequently contaminated with garbage and human sewage. In these most vulnerable conditions the world was bound to see the outbreak of a deadly disease called Cholera. According to Hayhurst, “The Vibrio Cholerae Bacterium thrives in human faeces. And in the unsanitary conditions of early 19th century India Cholera found a welcoming home as faeces made it into the water supply and ultimately into the guts of those who drank the water or washed their food in it.” The following diagram (3) illustrates the Cholerae Bacteria. An outbreak of cholera usually occurs in the wet season where the water is easier to...