Cholera In Zimbabwe (first draft paragraph for JMUN)

Cholera impact in Zimbabwe

Cholera is an infection caused by a bacterium that contaminates food and water. Once the person is ill he/she gets watery diarrhea, and gets dehydrated, and die.s One of the reasons Cholera happens, is because people do not have access either to clean drinking water or sanitation. Cholera happens in LEDC’s , because a big percentage of the population does not have access to clean water and sanitation and, therefore, the disease grows out of control and creates an epidemic. A clear example of this is Zimbabwe. In August 2008, the epidemic began and has been getting worse because of the political and economic crisis. Doctors and nurses have been in strike over the past 5 months, water purification chemicals are not available, water and sewer pipes are broken, garbage has not been collected, and water supply has not been constant. All these factors have contributed to make this the worst Cholera epidemic ever; at present 60,401 people are infected with this bacterium, and 3,161 people have died from the disease since August 2008. During the rainy season, that goes from January to March, the disease may spread even more, because the bacterium can be carried into rivers and wells, causing further contamination.

Sources:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/30/Zimbabwe.cholera.cases/index.html

http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/about/en/index.html