Cholera Outbreak in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

[Jeremy]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=3919&cat=field-news&ref=home-sidebar-right

Papua New Guinea: First Cholera Outbreak in 50 Years

September 8, 2009

A high number of cholera cases have been found in the small city of Wasu in the first known cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea in 50 years. Doctors Without Borders/M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF) is assisting health authorities by treating people affected by the already deadly outbreak at the local Angau hospital.
As of September 3, 95 cases?and nine deaths?have been confirmed in Wasu, a community of 12,000 people located in the Morobe Province on the eastern side of the island of New Guinea. The disease also seems to have spread to Lae, the capital of Morobe Province and the country's second largest metropolitan area. There, 11 patients have been admitted to Angau hospital and three have died.
In cooperation with the ministry of health, MSF has set up a cholera treatment center in the Angau hospital. An isolation ward has been established, which includes disinfection points and footbaths. MSF?s emergency team has sent seven additional staff, including three nurses and a water and sanitation specialist, to assist in the urgent response.
Cholera is a highly contagious disease. Caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, cholera is excreted by an infected person in stool and vomit and can spread rapidly to other people, especially in poor hygienic conditions, where it can contaminate food and water supplies. If infected, a patient may require up to two gallons of intravenous fluid on the first day. Death usually occurs when a patient loses 15 percent of his or her total body weight. People, particularly young children, can die within a day in severe cases if no treatment is given.
In addition to the cholera outbreak in Wasu and Lae, outbreaks of influenza A (H1N1) and shigella have been identified in Menyama, also in the Morobe Province. MSF is currently assessing the situation.
MSF has worked in Papua New Guinea since 2007. MSF supports a clinic in the eastern city of Lae, the country's second largest metropolitan area. In September 2008, MSF started providing surgical care for victims of violence in the local hospital in Tari, a town in the western part of the island.

 

[Jeremy]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

I know I should put this comment in the spec section but this is getting really confusing....

1) Reports from Brisbane said it was seasonal flu
2) WHO says that it was H3N2.
3) Now MSF says it is H1N1 but they don't specify whether or not it is 2009 H1N1 or seasonal H1N1.

Maybe someone should call MSF and ask whether or not this is seasonal H1N1, H3N2 or 2009 pandemic H1N1 because right now we are getting different reports every couple of days and that is never encouraging when you have as many deaths that have been reported in PNG.

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Cholera! Cholera!

<SMALL>September 5th, 2009 by chrish</SMALL>
So my contract is due to finish 1st October. 9 months in PNG has flown by. After being sent up to Tari to get 3 building projects moving, Lae were short staffed and asked for me to come back to sort out their clinic extension project and a few pieces of administration. It was also an ideal time to buy all the things that the Tari construction project needed.
Upon arrival I was very pleased to see that my two assistants has done an excellent job of running things without an expat logistical supervisor. I started by telling them so, and that I was only here for a short time to sort out a few things and was quite happy to leave them running things.
The next day, stories started coming in of the Cholera. The medical coordinator phoned to suggest I read the ?Cholera guidelines?. The guideline was an inch thick of paper, so I decided to put it off until the next day (a mistake).
The next day we knew trouble was here. Reports of people with extreme diarrhea already in the hospital came through. Some had died. The boss told me to find a tent. The biggest tent I had ever seen in PNG was an army one, and the helpful officer in charge agreed to deliver 3 the next day. I read the cholera guideline and list of contents in the standard MSF cholera emergency kit. ???buckets, chlorine powder, rope, spraying equipment??. The MSF emergency team were arriving the next day, the hospital CEO, director of medical services, director of nursing, director of finance and admin, the boss and I met first thing. Well, second thing actually, me and the army met first thing. Army early. The hospital had already decided we knew Cholera more than they did and put us in charge. The army put up 5 tents. The log team went chlorine and bucket and sprayer shopping.
The emergency team arrived and told us to get more tents. As I write this we have an isolation ward with 15 beds and tents with 21 beds and by noon tomorrow I need to have somehow 75 beds. Preferably more.
Cholera is spread by ?the fecal oral route?. It is avoided by washing hands after using the toilet. Cholera sufferers loose up to 40 litres of fluid per day. From the end you?d rather patients didn?t loose things from. Cholera patients need hygiene and isolation. Extreme hygiene. That means Chlorine. Foot baths at the wards, hand washing at entry. Cholera doesn?t smell of what you?d think it does. It smells of Chlorine. I smell of Chlorine.
The patients lie on beds with holes cut out in the middle and a bucket underneath. The come in with sunken eyes and looking frail. 50% of people will die of dehydration without medical treatment. 98% will live if they get medical treatment. The medical treatment is rehydration. A man came in looking like death yesterday. He was talking about playing football today.
Chatting to friends tonight I realised that all but one of the health posts that people come to before the hospital are closed. People are dehydrating all over the province. Tommorrow they will learn that we can treat them. They will come and we will be busy. I hope I have enough beds, enough buckets and enough chlorine.

Posted in 9. September 2009:tiphat:http://msf.ca/blog
Tari General Hospital
s/ChrisH/

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Posts #182 and #145 are very simliar, but the difference is that in post #182, the phrase "A(H1N1)" has been added after the words "influenza A".

 

[Jeremy]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Posts #181 and #145 are very simliar, but the difference is that in post #181, the phrase "A(H1N1)" has been added after the words "influenza A".

It is post #182, but other than that you are 100% correct.

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Note the bold part. No mention of influenza A at all. Keep in mind also that this is the source that first claimed 400 deaths. Now they are reporting "dozens".

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=48985

PNG Health Minister expects state of emergency declaration today
Posted at 19:26 on 08 September, 2009 UTC

The Minister of Health in Papua New Guinea says he expects to have Cabinet approval for a state of emergency in disease hit Morobe Province by today.

Such a move would free up more resources to fight the outbreaks.

Sasa Zibe says yesterday’s trip to the province by the Secretary for Health was to help establish Command Posts in both the coastal region where cholera has claimed 11 lives, and a separate Post in Menyamya where shigella bacteria has killed dozens and infected many more.

He says this is a preparatory step ahead of a state of emergency, which some say should have been issued a week ago.

Mr Zibe says the Prime Minister and his Deputy also want it to happen quickly.

“Both of them very much agree that it is very late, that I should have brought up the paper [to the National Executive Council or Cabinet] quickly, so they both are, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister are very much in agreement with me for a state of emergency to be declared.”
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/509

Lae schools shut down
Source:
PISAI GUMAR
ALL schools in Lae city closed for a day yesterday after they banned their students from buying prepared food being served by mothers in the schoolyard markets.
The precautionary measure was issued separately by all schools a day after one school had closed and then reopened to continue classes amid heightened fears of the cholera outbreak.It could not be established late last night whether an order was issued by the Provincial Education Division or board.
But students, teachers and parents throughout the city were awaiting advice from the Morobe provincial education board and the programme adviser.Students from St Martins, Hounville and Amba primary schools and Bugandi and Bumayong secondaries reported yesterday that at least a student each had been suspected of cholera.One school rushed nine students to the Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF) quarantine centre at the Angau Memorial Hospital yesterday.
Students in other districts were also warned in a massive anti-cholera campaign to take precautions.
Finschhafen Vocation had been closed because of fears.
In the city, classes at the Markham Road Primary school closed on Monday.
Classes resumed yesterday but the 600 students were told by teachers that they could suspend classes anytime.
It is understood programme adviser Murika Bihoro would make a statement today.
By midday yesterday students from Bumayong and Bugandi secondary schools and St Martins were told go home.
At all schools, the students were scared of using the ablution blocks.
They were also scared of sharing anything, including bus fare, as they feared the coins would be infected.
They were also scared of using the schools? public telephones.
Grades Three to Six students at the Catholic church-run St Martins Primary School at Milfordhaven were told to go home after it was reported that cholera had been suspected at the Aigris Market near the estuary of the Markham River.
A large number of the school?s students come from the area.
At Malahang Technical Secondary, the students were scared of going to school because they were seeing settlers from the Bumbu, where three people had reportedly died of cholera, going to the Malahang market.
Parents feared for the safety of their children and called on the Education division to suspend classes.

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/506

Figures reported incorrect, says doctor
Source:
EVAH BANIGE
INFORMATION published in the past two weeks by the two daily newspapers regarding the cholera outbreak in the Sio area of the Tewae-Siassi district were incorrect.
This is according to the acting medical superintendent Dr Cain Kapiri of Etep Rural Hospital in the Wasu local level government.
Dr Kapiri stated that some of the information reported on the total number of deaths and admissions to Etep Rural Hospital including referral cases to Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae were untrue.
As the only medical officer working in Etep, which is run by the Evangelical Lutheran church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG), he has been serving the populace of Tewai-Siassi and Kabwum district.
Dr Kapiri said he was the first medical officer to detect the case, treat and make disaster plans to control the disease and notify authorities.
The total number of cases admitted to the hospital since the first case on July 25 through to Aug 30 is 32.
There have been 12 deaths; two who were patients and another two who were on their way to the hospital while eight died in the villages.
Dr Kapiri said the worst affected area was Sio village in Nambariwa with 15 cases admitted, followed by Lambutina with nine.
He said there was no referral from Etep Rural Hospital in Wasu to Angau and the information was misleading and not true.
More than 100 people have been treated with mild symptoms at the village by medical teams that were dispatched and oral rehydrating solutions have also been distributed.

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/507

No water for cooking, drinking
Source:
PISAI GUMAR
ANOTHER problem has risen in Menyamya.
There is no water for cooking and drinking and this has also added an extra burden for health workers in the district trying to contain the influenza and dysentery outbreak.
Deputy provincial Health adviser and director of the Menyamya operation Micah Yawing said since last night, people had had no water for drinking and cooking.
The three main educational institutions in the district have not had proper water catchment facilities for years.
The institutions ? Menyamya High School, Menyamya Vocational and Menyamya Primary School ? all reported yesterday there was no clean water left for cooking and drinking.
The water problem has been further fuelled by the prolonged dry season that has been on-going for the past month and a half.
The only water available is from the three main rivers but are only used by people for washing because it is also contaminated.
Menyamya High School has a student population of 446 and it has been closed due to the outbreak and the water shortage.
School headmaster Casper Nani said they could not do much without proper Government facilities, most of which were run down.
He said their pleas to the National Government and provincial headquarters had not elicited any response.
The headmaster of Menyamya Primary School, Simon Naptali said the school had not had a water tank, let alone a proper water catchment facility for the past 15 years.
Mr Naptali said the school had also been closed down because the water problem had now caused double trouble for his 14 teachers and 130 pupils.
Deputy manager of the vocational centre Yokea Guwo said the only water tanks that had been used were those at Menyamya Station.
But the water from these tanks are also being used by people from surrounding villages and, by yesterday, all the water in the tanks had been used up.
Mr Yawing said there had been no supplies, no response and no word at all from the central coordinating unit in Lae.
He said the unit in Lae had been working in isolation without any consultation with him and the team in Menyamya.
Food rations were also running out and there had been no supplies from the Government or business houses to date, Mr Yawing said.
Last night, health workers, including those in the affected areas, went without any water for cooking and drinking.

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://fijidailypost.com/news.php?section=1&fijidailynews=24819

Supply problems not helping
9-Sep-2009 12:11 PM

Papua New Guinea health authorities fighting an outbreak of dysentery and cholera in a remote area of Morobe province say more people could die because of difficulties transporting medicine and health workers.

Ninety people have reportedly died of dysentery and flu in the province since last month.
Papua New Guinea Health Minister Sasa Zibe says the declaration of a state of emergency in a region of Morobe province is imminent.

Officials say the situation is severe and it warrants a state of emergency.

Zibe says the government is considering a submission from the Health Ministry to take such a measure.

PNG health workers say the lack of transportation and communication links into the Menyamya district are making it hard to deliver medicines.

Morobe province?s health adviser, Dr Theo Likei, says so far the dysentery outbreak has
severely affected nearly 3,000 people.

He says the situation is quite dire.

??Those who have been affected, some of them show very serious conditions and that is the concern,? he said.

?They have been asking for more medicines and we have been working around the clock to give them more supplies.??

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

PNG Health Minister say command centres in Morobe will help manage disease outbreaks

Posted at 01:53 on 09 September, 2009 UTC
The Papua New Guinea Health Minister, Sasa Zibe, is taking strong exception to media reports of the numbers who have died in the disease epidemics hitting Morobe province.
He says the separate outbreaks of cholera and shigella bacteria have left about ninety people dead, despite the Governor of Morobe, Luther Wenge, putting the death toll at over four hundred, while the Post Courier newspaper reports over 100 deaths from cholera alone.
Mr Zibe hopes to have a state of emergency declared today and he says the establishment of command posts in the disease zones will now allow more precise monitoring of the numbers affected.

?One area where I am very very frustrated because you can see that we do not have the command post. Once we have that every report it should come to the command post where it will be weighted, and then come to us [government]. But instead, people are just flying any sort - do not believe in this 101 figure, that is just b******* I would say. It?s not true. It?s less than that.?:tiphat:http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=48996​

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Cholera emergency declared in Papua New Guinea - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Cholera emergency declared in PNG

By PNG correspondent Liam Fox


A public health emergency has been declared in Papua New Guinea as authorities battle the country's first outbreak of cholera.

Since July 18 people have died from cholera and 240 others have contracted the disease in Morobe Province on the country's north coast.

At the same time, in the same province, authorities are also battling an outbreak of dysentery that has killed 29 and infected 400.

PNG health minister Sasa Zibe says the emergency declaration will give health authorities greater powers to contain the outbreaks.

They will be able to shut down facilities like restaurants if they do not comply with sanitation standards.

They will also be able to prevent people from moving to and from infected areas.

Australia is providing assistance in the form of water purification tablets and water containers.
-
​

<cite cite="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/09/2681328.htm">Cholera emergency declared in PNG - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)</cite>

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

PNG Govt declares public health emergency in disease-hit Morobe

Posted at 08:20 on 09 September, 2009 UTC
Papua New Guinea?s Health Minister Sasa Zibe has declared a public health emergency in disease-hit Morobe Province.
The move will mean greater resources are made available to medical teams to combat the diseases.
According to the government, outbreaks of shigella bacteria in the inland district of Menyamya and cholera around Tewai/Siassi and now into Lae City have left at least 90 people dead.
Mr Zibe says that after extensive consultations with the government executive, the World Health Organisation, local leaders and AusAID, he has decided to enact provisions for improved medical treatment for affected areas.

?And I have instructed appropriate gazette and the legal instrument to be put in place as soon as possible. We have three districts that have been affected - the main area is the Wasu in the Tewai district and also the Lae City and also the Menyamya district. So these are the three and I have now declared a public health emergency .?:tiphat:http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=49014​

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

PNG declares health emergency over outbreaks

<!--headlinesBar--><!--headlinesRelated-->





<!--headlinesRelated--><!--headlinesCopy-->Liam Fox, Port Moresby
Last Updated: 15 hours 7 minutes ago
A public health emergency has been declared in Papua New Guinea's Morobe province, as authorities battle the country's first outbreak of cholera.

Since July, 18 people have died from cholera and 240 others have contracted the disease in Morobe province on the country's north coast.

At the same time, in the same province, authorities are also battling an outbreak of dysentery that has killed 29 and infected 400.

PNG's Health minister Sasa Zibe says the emergency declaration will give health authorities greater powers to contain the outbreaks.

They will be able to shut down facilities, like restaurants, if they don't comply with sanitation standards.

They will also be able to prevent people from moving to and from infected areas.

Australia is providing assistance in the form of water purification tablets and water containers.started.:tiphat:http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200909/2681278.htm?desktop

 

[Treyfish]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Danger high!
Expert warns: Cholera fast spreading disease

Wednesday 09th September, 2009​

By MAUREEN GEREWA

THE PNG Medical Society President Dr Mathias Sapuri has called on the Government to immediately declare a state of emergency in response to the
outbreak of cholera in Morobe.
Dr Sapuri stated in response to queries regarding cholera that the disease was usually found in South East Asia, but was now killing people in Wasu, Morobe
Province, and had spread to Lae, the second largest city in Papua New Guinea.
He said the disease was highly contagious and a state of emergency was needed for appropriate actions to be taken to prevent it from spreading to other
parts of the country.
?This disease is very contagious, it is very likely it will spread to other provinces. The National Government must declare a national emergency so
appropriate measures are put in place and the National Department of Health, national Disaster Office, AusAID, World Health and the PNG Defence Force
organisation can work together to contain the problem,?? he said.
Dr Sapuri said the PNGDF would be required to help when the movements of people were being restricted to help contain the disease.
Cholera is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by a a bactera. It is usually picked up from drinking contaminated water, food or from contact with people
who have the disease.
?This is very common in South East Asia and this is the first time it is being reported in PNG,?? he said.
The bacteria attacks the intestine and produces a substance called enterotoxin which causes damage to the lining of the small intestine, causing profuse
diarrhoea. When a person passes out stool, and somehow this gets to contaminate water and food people drink, they will get sick. It can also be passed from
hands that are not washed and are used to prepare food,?? he said.
Symptoms include severe, profuse diarrhoea, headaches, fever and a little stomach ache and as it worsens the person will have general bodily aches.
Most people feel weak and tired due to loss of body fluids. This can cause the kidney to shut down and a person will get a shock, and as it worsens the
kidney will get damaged and eventually shut down completely, and a person can die.
?It is a very serious condition. It can go from person to person,?? Dr Sapuri said.
He said people need to take basic precautions such as washing hands after using toilets, before eating and after holding rubbish.
The Government team, including the World Health Organisation officers based in Lae are also advising people through the radio to be hygiene conscious to
remain free from the disease by ensuring that they boil all foods, eat foods which are properly cooked and avoid eating food from open markets. Fingers or
hands should be washed with soap or ash after visiting the toilet and before handling food.:tiphat:http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20090909/wehome.htm

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

A truly puzzling post. I have no clue why he included the WHO's guidelines for influenza pandemics in this post, which is about a cholera outbreak.

http://www.trupela.com/2009/09/09/more-on-the-cholera-oubreak-in-papua-new-guinea/

Browse: Home / Liklik Toksave / More on the Cholera Oubreak
More on the Cholera Oubreak
By Robert on September 9, 2009

If I was to base my level of concern to the current outbreak situation going by the newspapers alone I would definitely be hitting panic stations ? by contrast ? if my reaction was based entirely on the general vibe around Goroka town and amongst the people ? I wouldn?t have a care in the world.

The truth is that my level of concern lies somewhere in the middle. I?m certainly not in panic mode but neither am I totally at ease ? the current outbreak has the potential to spread to other Districts and Provinces throughout Papua New Guinea. Heaven forbid should it meander its way up into the Highlands.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed a global influenza preparedness plan, which defines the stages or phases of a pandemic, outlining WHO?s role and makes recommendations for national measures before, during and after a pandemic.

In the 2009 WHO retained the use of a six-phased approach to pandemic alerts. The phases are defined below:

Phase 1: No animal influenza virus circulating among animals have been reported to cause infection in humans.Phase 2: An animal influenza virus circulating in domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans and is therefore considered a specific potential pandemic threat.Phase 3: An animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks.Phase 4: Human to human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to sustain community-level outbreaks has been verified.Phase 5: Human-to-human spread of the virus in two or more countries in one WHO region.Phase 6: In addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5, the same virus spreads from human-to-human in at least one other country in another WHO region.Today?s newspapers reported the following on the Outbreak situation:




Lae schools shut down
The National: story by Pisai Gumar

ALL schools in Lae city closed for a day yesterday after they banned their students from buying prepared food being served by mothers in the schoolyard markets?



No water for cooking, drinking
The National: story by Pisai Gumar

Another problem has risen in Menyamya. There is no water for cooking and drinking and this has also added an extra burden for health workers in the district trying to contain the influenza and dysentery outbreak. Deputy provincial Health adviser and director of the Menyamya operation Micah Yawing said since last night, people had had no water for drinking and cooking?



Figures reported incorrect, says doctor
The National: story by Evah Banige

Information published in the past two weeks by the two daily newspapers regarding the cholera outbreak in the Sio area of the Tewae-Siassi district were incorrect. This is according to the acting medical superintendent Dr Cain Kapiri of Etep Rural Hospital in the Wasu local level government?



Danger high! Expert warns: Cholera fast spreading disease
Post Courier: story by Maureen Gerewa

THE PNG Medical Society President Dr Mathias Sapuri has called on the Government to immediately declare a state of emergency in response to the outbreak of cholera in Morobe. Dr Sapuri stated in response to queries regarding cholera that the disease was usually found in South East Asia, but was now killing people in Wasu, Morobe Province, and had spread to Lae, the second largest city in Papua New Guinea. He said the disease was highly contagious and a state of emergency was needed for appropriate actions to be taken to prevent it from spreading to other parts of the country?

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20090909/news05.htm

Bid to ban cooked food sales

By PORENI UMAU

THE Morobe Women Social Action Forum (MWSAF) has called on the Morobe provincial health department and Lae city authorities to ban sales of cooked food
along the roadsides and bottled water sales at bus stops amidst the cholera outbreak in the city.
MWSAF moderator Delilah Kelly said on Monday the provincial health authorities and city authorities should ban sales of food and bottled water sold at the
roadsides as eating habits of people, especially at the settlement areas were not safe.
Ms Kelly said people did not consider their health when buying food at the roadside markets or water at the bus stops and they were putting their health in
danger.
She said this was a risky behaviour as customers do not know whether the food they buy is prepared using clean water or that bottled water they bought from
the bus stops come from good clean water sources.
She argued that most food and water sold at the roadside markets near settlements would pose a risk for customers, especially with the cholera epidemic
already in parts of Lae city.
Ms Kelly said authorities should take a strong stance against the sale of food and bottled water at such areas and come up with awareness on good clean
preparation of food.
?Vendors should be taught the healthy way to prepare food and water,? Ms Delilah said.
She said not all food prepared or water bottled for sale at such locations were good as vendors were are only mindful of making fast money and ignore healthy
food preparations for their customers.
Meanwhile, ignorance has claimed the life of a man at Kambasepa, bringing the total of deaths in that village to 11 since July. A medical team that returned
from Kambasepa yesterday said the man was given medication for dysentery but did not take it. The toll in Menyamya is now 102, deputy health adviser and
relief team leader Micah Yawing reported.

 

[Jeremy]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200909/2681683.htm?desktop

PNG cholera outbreak contained


Last Updated: 15 hours 39 minutes ago
Health authorities in Papua New Guinea say a cholera and dysentery outbreak has been contained to one province.

PNG's Health Minister has declared a public health emergency in Morobe province.

The move is intended to help authorities limit the spread of the diseases, allowing them to close restaurants and order people to remain in settlements.

Official figures show 18 people have died from cholera in Lae and Wasu, while 240 others in Morobe province have contracted the disease.

Twenty-nine people have died from dysentery in Menyamya district.

Seasonal flu has killed 51 people.

 

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Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20090910/news01.htm

It?s now an emergency

By MAUREEN GERAWA

HEALTH Minister Sasa Zibe yesterday declared a public health emergency in in response to outbreaks of cholera and shigella flu in parts of Morobe
Province.
While making an announcement in Port Moresby health officials including the World Health Organisation country representative Dr Eigil Sorensen and Health
Secretary Dr Clement Malau used the opportunity to call for people throughout the country to adhere to simple and basic personal hygiene practices to avoid
contracting such diseases.
?Personal hygiene is very important, ?? said Dr Sorensen. The two men were in Lae on Tuesday and reported that the cases of cholera reported in Lae were
mostly in places where the living conditions were poor. That includes Bumbu settlement where the people were using bush the as toilets.
Mr Zibe said the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare had assured K1 million was already in the disaster and emergency funds to support the response operation
in Morobe Province.
UNDER the health emergency act, the minister has the powers to give directions to the health and other relevant agencies to conduct operations that could be
considered against the law under normal circumstances. For instance, people in affected areas may be told not to move out of their villages to ensure the
disease does not spread to other parts of the country.
An agency like police will be asked to step in to enforce such a move. Similarly, the environmental officers can close down facilities if they are
con-sidered to be unhealthy for use. That would include ban on sale of cooked food along the streets and closure of restaurants.
?This is the first time we?ve had a cholera outbreak in the country. Therefore, the government of the day is to act swiftly to contain it," Mr Zibe said.
He said a lot of work was already underway with health workers stationed in designated places to give treatment and a helicopter is being used to bring
supplies to the people affected, including oral rehydrated salts (ORS). A total of one million packets of ORS have been brought into the country by the
World Health Organisation to distribute to all families and health facilities. The command centre at the Angau Hospital had also been set up, being overseen
by the hospital. Cholera outbreak has also been reported in Lae, especially in squatter settlements where the living conditions are poor.
While Angau hospital staff are doing their best to help, Mr Zibe said he had advised them to take care because cholera was a contagious disease. Shigella
which has affected five districts in Menyamya needs more effort as well to contain the problem.
Health officers said cholera was unlike any other disease reported in the country before. A person can get sick within two hours of being infected and could
dehydrate severely after five hours which could lead to death.
Due to the weak health system in the country, this could mean many people dying from the disease. Dr Malau, Dr Sorensen and the Government?s Chief Secretary
travelled to Lae on Tuesday to assess the situation before it would be decided if a state of emergency could be declared.
They confirmed that cholera reported in the country for the first time was contracted by 243 people in Wasu, leaving 18 dead. In Lae, 50 people contracted
it and three died from it.
The shigella outbreak in Menyamya was contracted by 390 people, out which 29 had died.
The victims of cholera in Lae were scattered throughout the city. However, the living conditions at the squatter settlements were unhygienic.
?People living along the Bumbu river are going to the bush and river for toilet. When I saw this I thought about all other places ? the Motuan villages, the
Trobriands. I thought about our people who go out to defecate in the bush,?? Dr Malau said.
He said the outbreak of these disease had shown that ?we have not empowered our people to take care of their own health??.
He said villages throughout the country that did not have proper toilets such as latrines and failed to adhere to personal hygiene practices needed to
change before cholera was in the country and could be spread by flies, contact with people who did not wash their hands, eat uncontaminated food and water.
He said the outbreak of these diseases had shown how weak the health systems have become over the years because it took a long time for reports to be made
known to the higher health authorities and for help to be sent to the affected villages.

 

[alert]

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

Re: 177 dead, 3300+ affected by several illnesses in Papua New Guinea?s Morobe Province

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20090910/thhome.htm

Hospitals prepared

By JOHNNY POIYA

HOSPITALS in the Highlands are on red alert to cater for the cholera outbreak in the Morobe Province.
All the five public hospitals held disaster meetings as of early this week and have prepared isolation rooms and staff to attend to people with the first
symptoms of cholera.
Acting Mt Hagen General Hospital chief executive officer Sr Regina Koi yesterday said their disaster committee held a meeting to address the epidemic should
it arrive in the province. ?We?ve already allocated a space at the provincial health office to cater for any cholera case that might arrive. We?re starting
off with a capacity of 10 beds. There is no case reported as yet but we are linked with the highway and we?re no exception,? Sr Koi said.
She said the committee also looked at central points in the districts to cater for cholera cases.
?For the main hospital and provincial health services, we are prepared,? Sr Koi said.
Kundiawa General Hospital acting CEO Dr Francis Wandi said his team held a meeting on Tuesday with the provincial health adviser.
?We?ve instructed the out-patient?s staff to be very critical of patient's. There?s a circular out to all staff. Any possible cases would be immediately
isolated,? Dr Wandi said.
Attempts to get the Goroka Base General Hospital management were unsuccessful but the Post-Courier understands several crisis meetings took place in
preparation for the disease.
Some people from the Eastern Highlands side of the border near the Morobe border in Menyamya are said to have already been affected.
A staff from the hospital under the condition of anonymity said medical staff had established isolation centres and staff early this week.
The staff said the hospital may have recorded its first cholera patients but could not confirm with the management.
Wabag and Mendi General Hospital have also held meet-ings and established a crisis team and isolation rooms.

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