Hanoi (VNA) - Six people in Yangon - the biggest city of Myanmar, have tested positive for cholera, the municipal auhority said, adding that it had ordered the temporary closure of restaurants in the area.
In a statement on July 6, Zaw Min Tun, spokesman of the Yangon authority, said nine people living in a “squatter ward” in the commercial hub of Yangon were hospitalised for severe diarrhoea and one later tested positive for cholera.
There are only 12 shared toilets for the settlement, which is home to more than 600 people, he said.
According to the statement, subsequent tests at two hospitals in Yangon found five other cholera cases. One person, who had been living with AIDS – or acquired immune deficiency syndrome – and was not tested for cholera, had died.
The Health Ministry sent out a text message to mobile phone users warning them to take additional hygiene precautions.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cholera is an infectious disease caused by eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium. Typically causing severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps, it spreads easily in unsanitary conditions.
WHO says researchers estimate that there are 1.3 million to 4 million cases of cholera each year worldwide, with up to 143,000 people dying from the disease./.
