Cholera outbreak in the cities of Jiaxing and Huzhou in east
China's Zhejiang
Province has been basically brought under control, sources with
the provincial health authorities said Saturday.
From last Tuesday to Friday, no new cholera case was spotted in
the two cities for four consecutive days, and the last
cholera-bacteria carrier left hospital Friday, noted the
sources.
Jiangxi reported its first cholera case on September 2 and last
case on October 17. During this one-and-half-a-month period, the
city had recorded a total of 184 cholera cases, and 60
cholera-bacteria carriers, with no deaths reported. From October 18
on, Jiangxi has had zero new cholera case for 10 days in a row, and
its last cholera patient recovered well and left hospital on
October 23.
On October 13, sporadic cholera outbreak was reported among migrant
workers at a brick mill in the Nanxun District of Huzhou. The city
has since recorded 19 cases of acute intestinal epidemics, and
another 34 cholera-bacteria carriers. The city provided free
medical care for the patients, and carried out physical examination
for 200-strong migrant workers inside and around the mill. No more
cholera cases have been reported in the city for the past four
consecutive days, and the last bacteria carrier left hospital on
Friday.
Provincial health authorities owed the outbreak of the waterborne
disease this year largely to drinking unsanitary water and eating
unclean food and little attention paid to locals' personal
hygiene.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2005)