Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993 TAG: 9306170263
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, INDIA LENGTH: Medium
One major hospital in Calcutta was filled with so many people suffering from the new strain that doctors had to cram four in each bed.
Reliable statistics are unavailable, but about 5,000 people are reported to have died from the new strain.
Waterborne diseases such as cholera often spread during the monsoon season, which has just begun in India and Bangladesh. The governments have not warned the public about the new illness, even though the World Health Organization alerted officials across South Asia.
"This is an epidemic because it is afflicting large numbers of people and it has spread fairly widely now," said Dr. Ranjan De Sylva, a WHO consultant on diarrheal diseases.
"We have been asking other countries to report cases of the new form of cholera. So far none has, but the epidemic could easily spread throughout South Asia," he said.
Cholera has been afflicting people for centuries in Asia, especially along the basin of the Ganges River. It also has caused seven pandemics in the world, the latest in 1961.
Like other forms of cholera, the newest strain - known commonly as Bengal cholera and technically as Vibrio Cholerae Non-01 (0139) - is caused by poisonous bacteria in contaminated water or food.
Bengal cholera has killed adults in nine hours and children in six, according to doctors in Calcutta.
However, doctors also are successfully using existing rehydration fluids and antibiotics to cure people who seek treatment fast enough.
by CNB