Killing Waterborne Diseases in Bombay-India

Waterborne diseases have killed at least 46 people in Bombay in the past August,2005, following widespread floods in the city. Some 200 people complaining of fever and vomiting have been admitted to hospitals across Bombay and suburbs, sparking fears of an epidemic.
Many deaths were likely caused by leptospirosis, an infection caused by water contamination that can lead to organ failure.
Dozens of hospital patients have shown leptospirosis symptoms, which include high fever, body aches and vomiting.
The deaths were concentrated in Bombay's northeastern suburbs where flood water mixed with sewage water entered low-lying shanties. Officials said some also died from malaria, diarrhea and typhoid.
The floods, triggered by record monsoon rains that began on July 26, killed more than 1,000 people in western India. More than 400 of those deaths were in Bombay.
The recent deaths have reignited anger over authorities' handling of the floods' aftermath.
Bombay residents took to the streets last month demanding authorities clear piles of garbage from the roads and remove animal carcasses that blocked drains.

Shanghai's drinking water

Shanghai's drinking water meets China's sanitary requirements and can be taken safely, indicated Jiao Yang, Shanghai Municipal Government news spokesman, on a regular press conference held on March 15th.

Jiao made the above remark in response to a Taiwanese reporter's question about Shanghai's drinking water quality during the press conference of the Fourth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress.
He said that Shanghai Municipal Government always attaches much importance to drinking water safety, and has invested over 5 billion RMB (US$617 million) to build two water supply systems of Huangpu River and Yangtze River in an effort to improve the city's water quality from the sources.
National authoritative organizations' tests show that the city's tap water records a qualification rate of 99.95% in terms of four major indexes, namely remaining chlorine, feculence, bacteria and Escherichia coli, and qualification rates of above 99% regarding 32 comprehensive indexes. Hence the fresh water in Shanghai is safe and up to the national standards.

Jiao mentioned that based on its environmental protection campaign schedule, Shanghai government has cleaned 200-odd watercourses in the previous three years, and now the watercourses in the downtown are no longer dirty and smelly in general. With further progress of the environmental protection campaign, the city's natural environment will see constant improvement.

Jiao added that owing to aging of tap water pipes, some residents in Shanghai might have found yellowish tap water in their houses. Water tank cleaning also causes cloudy tap water sometimes. Regarding the above situations, the municipal government has been renovating and improving the city's urban water supply systems in recent years, and the above situations will definitely improve via these efforts.

Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe

Cholera is caused by the enterotoxin produced by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, which leads to profuse vomiting and watery diarrhea. A recent outbreak of cholera has occurred in two cities in Zimbabwe causing seven deaths and more than 150 patients are infected with the bacteria in two districts of Chikomba and Chivhu in southeastern Zimbabwe. The Mortality rate of cholera infection is high in conditions where treatment is not given. The Health ministry of Zimbabwe has set up two additional health camps in these two districts for providing treatment and preventive medicines where, oral rehydration salts are provided to compensate fluid loss in these patients and antibiotics to treat cholera patients. Cholera outbreaks occurs due to drinking of contaminated water or food containing cholera bacteria and the Zimbabwe authorities feel that the recent heavy rains in these districts may be the reason for water contamination leading Cholera outbreaks in these two districts.

Cruise ships outbreaks

Each year, a few cruise ships are infected with outbreaks of flu-like viruses involving vomiting, diarrhea, and other unpleasant symptoms. While these occurrences invariably make headlines, in reality only 1 in 10 passengers typically get sick. Because of the confines of a cruise ship, this can seem quite severe, and there are several precautions you can take to avoid a similar fate.

Frequently wash your hands with warm water and soap – before dining, after using the restroom, after playing casino games that other passengers have touched, etc.
Avoid the most crowded venues where other passengers may be spreading germs – packed nightclubs, front rows for lounge shows, etc.
Eat healthy meals – light dining options, salads, balanced meals – to bolster your body’s health.
Get enough sleep to avoid weakening your immune system.
If you do begin to show symptoms of a virus or diarrhea, immediately curtail your activities and rest. By recognizing the onset of an illness you can quickly work to counteract it, and because your body has time to recuperate, you will miss less of your vacation.

ANGOLA: Cholera epidemic

NGO warns worst is yet to come

Describing the cholera outbreak in Angola a "national emergency", an international humanitarian NGO has warned the government that the worst is yet to come.

"There are now over 20,000 cases and 941 deaths," said Richard Veerman, head of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) mission in Angola. "Today we have not yet reached the peak of this epidemic. Even based on conservative estimates, the toll of this epidemic will be extremely high. The number of cases at least will double and we will try and contain the deaths. We have told the government to prepare for the worst."

Ten weeks after the first case of cholera was confirmed in the capital, Luanda, it has spread throughout the country, from the coastal urban centre of Benguela to interior provinces such as Malange. MSF have upgraded the outbreak to an "epidemic".

Tuesday saw the highest daily toll to date, with 929 new cases and 25 deaths. Last week, MSF saw an average of 30 newly infected people and a death every hour. In one of MSF's treatment centres in Luanda alone, 240 new patients came in over a 24-hour period.

"By all measures, this outbreak is out of control," said Luis Encinas, MSF emergency coordinator for the cholera outbreak.

Earlier this year Angolan health minister Sabastiao Veloso had said that the outbreak was under control. But recent rains have exacerbated the situation, said a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) official earlier this month.

Overcrowding and appalling sanitation are exacerbating the outbreak in the informal townships or 'musseques', mainly inhabited by internally displaced persons who fled the devastating 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. Cholera is a waterborne disease, associated with poor sanitation and lack of safe water.

This is the first outbreak in Luanda in over a decade. Angola's interior areas have not recorded cholera for an even longer period, as people rarely travelled internally during the war.

Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer after Nigeria, is currently in the middle of a reconstruction boom fuelled by high oil prices. But ironically, as the government tries to rehabilitate infrastructure it also helps the disease to spread faster.

"During the war cholera never moved out of Luanda," said Veerman. "But now there are roads [and] people are moving. The disease is following the best roads."

DRINKING WATER SAFETY IN PLANES

Tests point to bacteria in water on airplanes

Random tests of drinking water from 158 U.S. passenger planes found that about one in eight were contaminated with bacteria from human waste, the Environmental Protection Agency reported few months ago.
Tanks on aircraft provide water for both lavatory sinks and galleys and to make coffee and tea. They are typically topped off each time a plane lands, which means each airport is a potential source of contamination, either via its own water supply or from contaminated nozzles on the hoses used to fill the tanks. The tanks are flushed and disinfected regularly.
The EPA suggests that people with compromised immune systems — such as cancer and transplant patients and people with HIV — stick to canned or bottled water when flying and avoid washing their hands or brushing their teeth in plane lavatories.
Water quality on airplanes is a unique problem, says Tom Skinner of the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Because planes travel the globe over the course of a day, a plane can take on water at 10 sites, including sites outside the United States."
The agency found that 20 of the water tanks tested were infected with coliform bacteria, and two also tested positive for E. coli bacteria. Coliform bacteria indicate that the water has been contaminated with fecal material. E. coli is also associated with human waste.
"We take fecal contamination seriously. It can have an acute gastrointestinal impact," says Ben Grumbles of EPA's Office of Water.
Although the forms of coliform and E. coli found in the tanks don't usually make people sick, they are indicators that other organisms might be present that could pose a danger to public health. Symptoms of such water-borne illness include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
But the public shouldn't overreact, says Phyllis Kozarsky, chief of travel health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We have not had reports of water-borne outbreaks on planes. People have not become ill, and we have no reports of illness," she says.
The samples were collected in August and September from a wide range of aircraft types and carriers. The agency also tested for residual chlorine to determine whether the water systems had been disinfected.
The tests provide a statistically valid profile of aircraft water quality in the USA, the EPA says. The agency says the data are preliminary, and it is undertaking a more thorough testing program to understand the full scope of the problem.
"We're pursuing what may be violations of our regulations and reviewing whether we need to strengthen our guidelines to carriers," Skinner says. "We've notified the airline industry of our findings, and we're actively pursing additional ways to clean the water."
The Air Transport Association, the trade organization of the major U.S. airlines, disputed the findings. The organization said that testing by the Food and Drug Administration as well as its own tests found that "airlines' drinking water was free of contaminants that might pose health risks," according to a press release.
"People have to use common sense and not have greater expectations than they should have. ... An airplane is not their home," the CDC's Kozarsky says.