KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health and Population confirmed a cholera epidemic in Thaiba, Godawari Municipality, Lalitpur district. The outbreak was first identified when a patient with severe diarrhea tested positive for cholera. Dr. Prakash Budhathoky, a ministry official, confirmed that the patient's stool samples had the Vibrio cholera 01 Ogawa strain. The outbreak appears to have started at a drug rehabilitation clinic in Thaiba, where fast diagnostic testing revealed at least four sick people. Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital has accepted one severely ill patient to its intensive care unit.

Following confirmation, health officials have been striving to contain the spread. Several patients, however, escaped from the hospital where they were being treated, presumably due to concerns about returning to the rehab facility. This hampers efforts to manage the outbreak because these patients could continue to spread the disease. In response, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has dispatched a team to collect and test water and stool samples from the rehabilitation center to determine the level of contamination.

The monsoon seasons are particularly associated with cholera outbreaks in the Kathmandu Valley after precipitation contaminates the water supply and facilitates the transmission of water-borne diseases. In May, a similar outbreak was recorded involving a Makawanpur patient. This confirmed 77 cases of cholera in the Valley up until 2022. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City offered oral vaccinations in high-risk districts some time ago in a bid to fight the infection chain of cholera.

Health experts point to the need for providing safe drinking water, maintaining adequate sanitation, and undertaking public awareness activities to prevent water-borne infections. They call for vigorous surveys, better sanitation, and social mobilization to match the strictly held drive of successfully controlling and containing cholera epidemics to bring down mortality rates to the minimum.

Following confirmation, health officials have been striving to contain the spread. Several patients, however, escaped from the hospital where they were being treated, presumably due to concerns about returning to the rehab facility. This hampers efforts to manage the outbreak because these patients could continue to spread the disease. In response, the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has dispatched a team to collect and test water and stool samples from the rehabilitation center to determine the level of contamination.

The monsoon seasons are particularly associated with cholera outbreaks in the Kathmandu Valley after precipitation contaminates the water supply and facilitates the transmission of water-borne diseases. In May, a similar outbreak was recorded involving a Makawanpur patient. This confirmed 77 cases of cholera in the Valley up until 2022. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City offered oral vaccinations in high-risk districts some time ago in a bid to fight the infection chain of cholera.

Health experts point to the need for providing safe drinking water, maintaining adequate sanitation, and undertaking public awareness activities to prevent water-borne infections. They call for vigorous surveys, better sanitation, and social mobilization to match the strictly held drive of successfully controlling and containing cholera epidemics to bring down mortality rates to the minimum.