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Cross-border movements responsible for cholera spread in Uganda

Tuesday August 21 2018
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Cholera patient at the Kenyatta National Hospital on July 19, 2017. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION

By EVELYN LIRRI

The frequent outbreaks of cholera in Uganda over the years can be largely attributed to the movement of affected people across borders.

According to findings of a new study published in the journal Frontiers of Microbiology, lakes and other water bodies appear to facilitate cholera.

The researchers, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Makerere University School of Public Health and the Uganda Ministry of Health sought to establish whether water bodies near areas where outbreaks occur frequently were a reservoir for the bacteria that causes cholera or not.

Over a one-year period, the researchers surveyed lakes, rivers, wells and ponds to see if the bacterium that causes cholera was persistent in these water bodies and if they could infect people in different parts of the country.

“We searched for these organisms for 12 months in districts with frequent cholera outbreaks such as Kasese, Nebbi, Buliisa, Kampala, Kayunga and Busia,” said Prof Sack.

At least 322 water samples were tested and none tested positive for the toxigenic vibrio cholerae O1 or O139 — the sub groups that are responsible for cholera epidemics.

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“We did not find these cholera bacteria, but did find a closely related bacteria called vibrio cholerae non-O1 and non-O139. This type can make people sick with diarrhoea and can also cause wound infections, but it does not cause cholera outbreaks,” said Prof David Sack of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Based on this and previous studies, Dr Godfrey Bwire, the Head of Control of Diarrhoeal Diseases at the Ministry of Health, noted that cholera prevention interventions are now being focused on areas where outbreaks have become endemic.

“By targeting measures to stop cholera in known hotspots, we believe we can stop transmission and also prevent it from spreading to other districts in the country or across the borders,” said Dr Bwire.

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