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The death toll from water-borne diseases in India's commercial capital Mumbai and surrounding regions after floods brought by record monsoon rains has risen to 179, officials said Sunday. But outbreaks of deadly leptospirosis, gastroentiritis, dengue fever, cholera and jaundice, which have forced more than 7,700 people to seek hospital treatment, appeared to be slowing. "We saw a period where the 'acute' leptospirosis cases rose sharply. Now the intensity and incidence of water-borne cases is slowly diminishing," Mumbai municipal commissioner Johnny Joseph told AFP. The illnesses have been incubating since the incessant rains ended August 2. The rains were the worst in living memory, killing 1,071, turning streets into rivers and leaving piles of garbage and rotting animal carcasses. Many people had waded through neck-deep water to reach safety or get supplies during the floods, and the disease death toll in Mumbai stood at 107 on Sunday and 72 in the surrounding regions, Joseph said. "We expect the number of cases to reduce. Those discharged from hospitals will continue with the requisite antibiotics course to prevent recurrence of the ailment," R. Katti, director of health surveillance in Maharashtra state. He added that 1,250 medical teams were continuing to work at relief camps, as well as hold door-to-door visits in the worst-hit areas of the western state, whose capital is Mumbai. India's ruling national Congress party president Sonia Gandhi visited western regions of Maharashtra and Mumbai late Saturday to review relief work. Environmentalists and urban planners blamed the widespread flooding in Mumbai on poor drainage caused by rampant unscrupulous development that blocked water exits. Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated with animal urine and symptoms include high fever and vomiting. All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links TerraDaily Search TerraDaily Subscribe To TerraDaily Express 
"Bloody Diarrhoea" Epidemic Kills 23 In DR Congo
Kinshasa (AFP) Aug 11, 2005The death toll in an epidemic of "bloody diarrhoea" in the central region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 23, a health official said Thursday. |
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