Cholera Hit Zambia:
India on Saturday sent medical and material assistance to Zambia as the southern African country.
- Zambia has been reeling under an outbreak of cholera over the past few weeks which had prompted a closure of schools in the country.
- Zambia has been asking for more medical help to deal with the situation that has been described as a “cholera emergency”.
- Zambia is alandlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa.
- The landlocked country has experienced rapid economic growth over the last decade as Africa’s second largest copper producer after the DR Congo.
Cholera:
- Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water.
- A bacterium called Vibrio cholerae causes cholera infection.
- The deadly effects of the disease are the result of a toxin the bacteria produces in the small intestine.
- The toxin causes the body to secrete enormous amounts of water, leading to diarrhea and a rapid loss of fluids and salts
- Most people exposed to the cholera bacterium (Vibrio cholerae) don’t become ill and don’t know they’ve been infected.
- But because they shed cholera bacteria in their stool for seven to 14 days, they can still infect others through contaminated water.
