Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103061194
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LIMA, PERU LENGTH: Medium
The death toll for the epidemic, now in its sixth week, rose Tuesday to 258 in Peru, with 65 deaths reported in the first days of March.
Health officials around the country indicate that while the number of new cases had been declining, there has been a surge in recent days.
"The number of cases arriving is reaching the levels that we had at the beginning of the epidemic," said Dr. Sigilberto Cassiano of Lima's Dos de Mayo hospital.
Health Ministry figures released Tuesday showed 54,907 cases since Jan. 23. Nearly 13,000 people have been hospitalized.
In Ecuador, Health Minister Plutarco Naranjo said a 55-year-old woman who died Sunday was among about 20 people who had the disease in the village of Bajo Alto. The others were treated and are out of danger, he said.
It was the first report of a cholera death in any neighboring country since the epidemic began. Officials in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina have denied news reports that cholera cases have been recorded in those countries.
Naranjo said Peruvian fishermen who traveled to Bajo Alto from the frontier city of Tumbes apparently carried cholera into Ecuador.
Health officials also confirmed Monday that the disease has appeared in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, which has a population of 2 million.
Peruvian Health Ministry spokesman Raul Fernandez said the actual number of people carrying cholera is much higher than the number of cases reported, since three people could be infected for every person who registers symptoms. Medical experts say the Vibrio Cholerae bacillus can lay dormant within a human being for up to a year.
Cholera, which is spread in feces-contaminated water and food, affects the intestines, causing diarrhea and severe fluid loss. It can be fatal if not treated.
Fernandez said experts believed Asian sailors first spread the bacillus in the northern port of Piura, 530 miles northwest of Lima.
by CNB