An Epidemiological Survey on the Outbreak of Cholera of Overseas Travelers in Daejeon

Jin, Sun Mi; Lee, Tae Yong

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was coducted to describe the epidemiological, characteristics of the outbreak of cholera of overseas travelers on Aug. 2005 in Daejeon.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Interview using a standard questionnaire and rectal swab were conducted to 15 overseas travelers ,27 persons who contacted with travelers
RESULTS
Epidemiological characteristics of the 2005 cholera epidemic of Daejeon are as follows: 1. Isolated species were Vibrio cholerae, O1 El Tor Ogawa. There were 6 culture-proven patients, 4 culture-not proven patients and 2 asymptomatic carriers. There was no case of person to person infection and no fatal cases 2. The sex distribution of cholera patients was equal. The most of cholera patients were at the age of fifties. 3. The duration of diarrhea was 4.4 days. The number of diarrhea per 1day was 5.5. 4. Source of Vibrio cholerae in this outbreak was suggested to be the contaminated food from the overseas traveling to epidemic area, Mandalay, Myanmar on Aug. 8, 2005
CONCLUSIONS
It is recommended that the government should be prepared to prevent cholera of overseas travelers effectively. To prevent the outbreak of cholera by chronic carriers, we need to strengthen the monitoring sytem of diarrhoeal diseases.