Nine people, residents of an “occupied district” in the commercial center of Rangoon, were admitted to hospitals with acute diarrhea and one of them was diagnosed after laboratory tests as being infected with cholera, the spokesman of the military regime explained.
Six people have been confirmed, through laboratory tests, to have been infected with cholera in Rangoon, Myanmar’s largest city, a spokesman for the military junta that rules the Asian nation announced Saturday, as the regime ordered restaurants in the area where they live to temporarily close.
Nine people, residents of an “occupied district” in the commercial center of Rangoon, were admitted to hospitals with acute diarrhea and one of them was diagnosed after laboratory tests as being infected with cholera, the spokesman of the military regime explained.
There are only about ten communal toilets in the occupied buildings, where more than 600 people live, he explained.
Subsequent tests at two Rangoon hospitals revealed five more cases of cholera.
A man suffering from AIDS—he had not been tested for the cholera bacterium—died.
The junta’s health ministry sent an SMS to mobile phone owners, urging them to take extra precautions when it comes to maintaining hygiene.
Cholera is a highly contagious disease, caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium that causes it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The disease, which causes diarrhea, vomiting and excruciating muscle cramps, spreads rapidly in areas where sanitary conditions are poor.
According to WHO figures, cholera cases worldwide are estimated to reach 1.3 to 4 million annually; the disease is responsible for up to 143,000 deaths.
Source :Skai
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