LAHORE, May 19: The University of Health Sciences has claimed Cholera outbreak in Mirpur Khas, warning if immediate measures are not taken the epidemic can spread in other parts of Sindh province.

Accompanied by UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Husain Mubashar Malik, the varsity’s microbiology department head, Prof Abdul Hannan, told journalists here on Monday that a team of varsity doctors was sent to Mirpur Khas following reports of outbreak of gastroenteritis there.

He said out of 18 stool samples of patients from the area, eight were found infected with Vibrio Cholerae, a bacterium which mainly caused the epidemic.

“Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by intestine infection. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe characterised by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. In such patients, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours,” he maintained.

He said Cholera had been very rare in industrialised nations for the last 100 years. However, he said, the disease was still common in many other parts of the world, including Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa.

Prof Hannan said a person might catch the disease by drinking water or eating food contaminated with cholera bacterium. The source of the contamination was usually the faeces of an infected person, he added. The disease could spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and unhygienic drinking water.

The bacterium might also be found in brackish rivers and coastal waters. The disease was not likely to spread directly from one person to another, therefore casual contact with an infected person was not a risk factor.

The report had been sent to the Sindh government for adopting certain measures to address the issue. —Staff Reporter