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PNG Cholera Update
Wednesday, 16 September, 2009
12 people have died from the 1st outbreak of cholera in 50 years in
Papua New Guinea (PNG), and the disease must be urgently contained
before it spreads further, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Eigil Sorensen, WHO's representative in Papua New Guinea, said
cholera appeared in 2 coastal villages in northern Morobe Province at
the end of July 2009 and gradually spread to 4 districts in the
province, but was not identified until a month later.
Of the 130 reported cases so far, there had been 12 deaths, Sorensen
said, and the disease appeared to be spreading through low level
transmission. "Since there is low level transmission and the number
of cases remains relatively low, we think there is no contamination
of any major water sources," he said. However, the disease has
appeared in Lae, the provincial capital, which Sorenson attributed to
people traveling from rural areas into the city.
Medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on 7 Sep 2009 that
Angau Hospital in Lae was on high alert over the cholera outbreak and
that it had helped the Ministry of Health establish a cholera
treatment center there. MSF's emergency team has sent 7 additional
staff, including 3 nurses and a water and sanitation specialist, to
assist in the urgent response.
Morobe Province has also been hit by unrelated outbreaks of
shigellosis, a bacterium that causes bloody diarrhea. Sorenson said
about 40 people might have died from shigella in the last month in
remote districts in Morobe.
