The Impact of Cholera in Zambia, Africa

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The Impact of Cholera in Zambia, Africa
Many people in advanced industrialized nations are often unaware of infectious diseases that plague underdeveloped countries. This is primarily due to factors that are so often taken for granted like having proper sanitation, adequately treated water, properly prepared food, easy access to medical care, and economic viability. The sad truth is that many of these infectious diseases could easily be prevented if the countries where they run most rampant had only a few of the factors mentioned above. The concentration of this paper will be to focus on one such disease named Cholera and its impact on the country of Zambia, Africa.
In order to adequately discuss Cholera's impact on Zambia, Africa I will be providing an overview of the disease, discussing it's etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and finally its prevention and treatment.
Disease Overview
Cholera is still an extremely significant disease worldwide with over 5 million cases being reported per year (Ruiting & Reeves, 2002). Cholera is a diarrheal illness that progresses rapidly and is contracted by ingesting the bacterium Vibrio cholerae which causes an intestinal infection (CDC, 2013). In many cases the illness is mild with hardly any symptoms at all, but in some cases it can become severe. Approximately 5 percent of people who are infected exhibit severe symptoms such as extreme watery diarrhea, leg cramps, and vomiting (CDC, 2013). These symptoms usually occur at a rapid pace and unless treated can further lead to dehydration and shock which can ultimately cause death within hours. It is estimated that over 100,000 deaths occur each year around the world due to Cholera. (CDC, 2013)
Cholera is thought by exper...

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... edition. Cholera, Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139, and Other Pathogenic Vibrios. Chapter 24. [Classis Bookshelf version]. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8407/
Ruiting, L. & Reeves, P.R. (2002). Pandemic Spread of Cholera: Genetic Diversity and Relationships within the Seventh Pandemic Clone of Vibrio cholerae Determined by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, (40), 172- 181. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://jcm.asm.org/content/40/1/172.long
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (2010). Disaster Management in Zambia: Unicef's role. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/zambia/cross_cutting.html
World Health Organization (WHO). (2014). Cholera fact sheet. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/

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