Credit: French Association for Scientific Information
Less noticed than Ebola and measles, cholera has been a problem in the DR Congo. But I recently posted some very good news about cholera in Haiti—that after nine years, the outbreak of 2010 seems finally over. Dr. Renaud Piarroux, who identified the origin of the outbreak in the Nepalese peacekeepers' camp, also worked with the Ministry of Public Health and Population to stamp it out.
After I posted an excerpt from an interview about this achievement, Dr. Piarroux wrote back with a follow-up, which he has kindly allowed me to quote:
The interview is a few months old but what I said is still true: all samples collected since the beginning of February turned to be negative. As the number of analyzed samples now exceeds 1000, we can be sure that the epidemic is over. Only a new importation can bring back cholera to Haiti and even in this case, I am confident that my friends in Haiti will manage it correctly. Haitian ministry of health has now many experts capable to fight cholera.
Then he added this welcome news:
By the way, I am currently in Kinshasa trying to start a similar program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Samuel Beaulieu and Edouard Beigbeder are already in the loop and Stanislas Rebaudet and Gregory Bulit will surely join us in a few months. Aaron Aruna Abedi, who helped us in Haiti, is currently in charge of epidemiological surveillance in DR Congo. We will all work together to eliminate cholera in his country.
I look forward to more good news from Dr. Piarroux.
