Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey.
Background During the last eight years, North and South Kivu, located in a lake area in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have been the site of a major volcano eruption and of numerous complex emergencies with population displacements. These conditions have been suspected to favour emergence and...
Published in: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2009
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 https://doaj.org/article/40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 2023-05-15T15:16:38+02:00 Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. Didier Bompangue Patrick Giraudoux Martine Piarroux Guy Mutombo Rick Shamavu Bertrand Sudre Annie Mutombo Vital Mondonge Renaud Piarroux 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 https://doaj.org/article/40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/19436726/pdf/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 https://doaj.org/article/40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 3, Iss 5, p e436 (2009) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2009 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 2022-12-31T11:15:34Z Background During the last eight years, North and South Kivu, located in a lake area in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have been the site of a major volcano eruption and of numerous complex emergencies with population displacements. These conditions have been suspected to favour emergence and spread of cholera epidemics. Methodology/principal findings In order to assess the influence of these conditions on outbreaks, reports of cholera cases were collected weekly from each health district of North Kivu (4,667,699 inhabitants) and South Kivu (4,670,121 inhabitants) from 2000 through 2007. A geographic information system was established, and in each health district, the relationships between environmental variables and the number of cholera cases were assessed using regression techniques and time series analysis. We further checked for a link between complex emergencies and cholera outbreaks. Finally, we analysed data collected during an epidemiological survey that was implemented in Goma after Nyiragongo eruption. A total of 73,605 cases and 1,612 deaths of cholera were reported. Time series decomposition showed a greater number of cases during the rainy season in South Kivu but not in North Kivu. Spatial distribution of cholera cases exhibited a higher number of cases in health districts bordering lakes (Odds Ratio 7.0, Confidence Interval range 3.8-12.9). Four epidemic reactivations were observed in the 12-week periods following war events, but simulations indicate that the number of reactivations was not larger than that expected during any random selection of period with no war. Nyiragongo volcanic eruption was followed by a marked decrease of cholera incidence. Conclusion/significance Our study points out the crucial role of some towns located in lakeside areas in the persistence of cholera in Kivu. Even if complex emergencies were not systematically followed by cholera epidemics, some of them enabled cholera spreading. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 3 5 e436 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Didier Bompangue Patrick Giraudoux Martine Piarroux Guy Mutombo Rick Shamavu Bertrand Sudre Annie Mutombo Vital Mondonge Renaud Piarroux Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background During the last eight years, North and South Kivu, located in a lake area in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have been the site of a major volcano eruption and of numerous complex emergencies with population displacements. These conditions have been suspected to favour emergence and spread of cholera epidemics. Methodology/principal findings In order to assess the influence of these conditions on outbreaks, reports of cholera cases were collected weekly from each health district of North Kivu (4,667,699 inhabitants) and South Kivu (4,670,121 inhabitants) from 2000 through 2007. A geographic information system was established, and in each health district, the relationships between environmental variables and the number of cholera cases were assessed using regression techniques and time series analysis. We further checked for a link between complex emergencies and cholera outbreaks. Finally, we analysed data collected during an epidemiological survey that was implemented in Goma after Nyiragongo eruption. A total of 73,605 cases and 1,612 deaths of cholera were reported. Time series decomposition showed a greater number of cases during the rainy season in South Kivu but not in North Kivu. Spatial distribution of cholera cases exhibited a higher number of cases in health districts bordering lakes (Odds Ratio 7.0, Confidence Interval range 3.8-12.9). Four epidemic reactivations were observed in the 12-week periods following war events, but simulations indicate that the number of reactivations was not larger than that expected during any random selection of period with no war. Nyiragongo volcanic eruption was followed by a marked decrease of cholera incidence. Conclusion/significance Our study points out the crucial role of some towns located in lakeside areas in the persistence of cholera in Kivu. Even if complex emergencies were not systematically followed by cholera epidemics, some of them enabled cholera spreading. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Didier Bompangue Patrick Giraudoux Martine Piarroux Guy Mutombo Rick Shamavu Bertrand Sudre Annie Mutombo Vital Mondonge Renaud Piarroux |
author_facet |
Didier Bompangue Patrick Giraudoux Martine Piarroux Guy Mutombo Rick Shamavu Bertrand Sudre Annie Mutombo Vital Mondonge Renaud Piarroux |
author_sort |
Didier Bompangue |
title |
Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
title_short |
Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
title_full |
Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
title_fullStr |
Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cholera epidemics, war and disasters around Goma and Lake Kivu: an eight-year survey. |
title_sort |
cholera epidemics, war and disasters around goma and lake kivu: an eight-year survey. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 https://doaj.org/article/40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 3, Iss 5, p e436 (2009) |
op_relation |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/19436726/pdf/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 https://doaj.org/article/40c4b94213d046dcaaa594a7a0b18643 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000436 |
container_title |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
e436 |
_version_ |
1766346942446567424 |