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Medical Geography and Cholera in Per?
These materials were developed by Dr. Sonia Arbona and Dr. Shannon Crum, Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin, 1996...
Excerpt:
Cholera was detected in the Peruvian population near the beginning of 1991, brought to the country perhaps from the bilge water of a Chinese freighter. Another interesting observation, and a possible explanation for the appearance of cholera in the South American country, is that the sea current El Ni?o is a hot current coming from the north to the south along the South American coast in the Pacific Ocean. This phenomenon takes place at the end of December and the beginning of January. In 1991, this current produced a higher temperature than usual in that part of the Pacific Ocean. According to Rita Colwell at the University of Maryland, when a vibrio is submerged in cold water it can shrink to be 300 times smaller than its usual size. Zooplankton that inhabit cold waters may carry large number of cholera vibrios on their bodies. Zooplankton feed by grazing on phytoplankton which bloom with sunshine and warm conditions. Thus, a phytoplankton bloom leads to an increase in the population of zooplankton which carry the vibrios. A warmer than usual El Ni?o may have created the right kind of conditions along the Peruvian shores for human to become infected with cholera. Zooplankton live in the water of ponds and rivers that people may drink. Also, fish and shellfish eat zooplankton and raw fish. Shellfish consumption also leads to cholera if it is contaminated with the bacteria...
Full text:
These materials were developed by Dr. Sonia Arbona and Dr. Shannon Crum, Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin, 1996...
Excerpt:
Cholera was detected in the Peruvian population near the beginning of 1991, brought to the country perhaps from the bilge water of a Chinese freighter. Another interesting observation, and a possible explanation for the appearance of cholera in the South American country, is that the sea current El Ni?o is a hot current coming from the north to the south along the South American coast in the Pacific Ocean. This phenomenon takes place at the end of December and the beginning of January. In 1991, this current produced a higher temperature than usual in that part of the Pacific Ocean. According to Rita Colwell at the University of Maryland, when a vibrio is submerged in cold water it can shrink to be 300 times smaller than its usual size. Zooplankton that inhabit cold waters may carry large number of cholera vibrios on their bodies. Zooplankton feed by grazing on phytoplankton which bloom with sunshine and warm conditions. Thus, a phytoplankton bloom leads to an increase in the population of zooplankton which carry the vibrios. A warmer than usual El Ni?o may have created the right kind of conditions along the Peruvian shores for human to become infected with cholera. Zooplankton live in the water of ponds and rivers that people may drink. Also, fish and shellfish eat zooplankton and raw fish. Shellfish consumption also leads to cholera if it is contaminated with the bacteria...
Full text:
