Cholera outbreak in the cities of Jiaxing and Huzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province has been basically brought under control, sources with the provincial health authorities said Saturday.
From last Tuesday to Friday, no new cholera case was spotted in the two cities for four consecutive days, and the last cholera-bacteria carrier left hospital Friday, noted the sources.
Jiangxi reported its first cholera case on September 2 and last case on October 17. During this one-and-half-a-month period, the city had recorded a total of 184 cholera cases, and 60 cholera-bacteria carriers, with no deaths reported. From October 18 on, Jiangxi has had zero new cholera case for 10 days in a row, and its last cholera patient recovered well and left hospital on October 23.
On October 13, sporadic cholera outbreak was reported among migrant workers at a brick mill in the Nanxun District of Huzhou. The city has since recorded 19 cases of acute intestinal epidemics, and another 34 cholera-bacteria carriers. The city provided free medical care for the patients, and carried out physical examination for 200-strong migrant workers inside and around the mill. No more cholera cases have been reported in the city for the past four consecutive days, and the last bacteria carrier left hospital on Friday.
Provincial health authorities owed the outbreak of the waterborne disease this year largely to drinking unsanitary water and eating unclean food and little attention paid to locals' personal hygiene.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2005)
