
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130041
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: LIMA, PERU                                LENGTH: Short

PERU CHOLERA EPIDEMIC ACCELERATING

The epidemic of cholera in Peru has accelerated in recent days, amid a bitter argument over whether President Alberto Fujimori is damaging efforts to control the disease by publicly eating raw fish - a practice that health officials call extremely risky.

After an initial outbreak in coastal cities, authorities declared in mid-February that the epidemic was under control. But two weeks ago the disease began to take off again, spreading into mountain regions where sanitary conditions and health services are even less adequate than the often rudimentary ones on the coast.

The Ministry of Health announced last week that cases had reached 55,000, with 258 deaths, and the totals are believed to be substantially higher now.

Hospitals report seeing a greater number of new cases each day than at any time since the epidemic began. In the fishing town of Chimbote, hard hit by the disease, tents have been set up outside the main hospital to handle the overflow. At Maria Auxiliadora Hospital in Lima, officials report seeing more than 100 new cases daily and say resources are stretched to the limit.

Health authorities have cautioned that the coastal waters near populated areas are severely contaminated because of the nearly total lack of sewage treatment.

Most health experts have warned that although the epidemic eventually will subside, the lack of water-treatment facilities in Peru means that the disease likely will establish itself in Peru and remain indefinitely.

by CNB