Cholera outbreak spreads across Yangon as more than 180 people hospitalised

At least 93 patients have tested positive for cholera at a single hospital in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, as an outbreak that began last week continues to spread across the region. More than 180 people in Yangon have been hospitalised with diarrhea, a common symptom of cholera, according to Dr. Nanda Win, head of the Yangon Region Public Health and Medical Services Department. He said Friday that one 92-year-old man had died.

The outbreak is placing additional pressure on Myanmar’s already weakened health care system, which has deteriorated under junta rule as military spending has taken priority over health services. Dr. Nanda Win said cases were mainly concentrated in downtown Yangon, particularly in Chinatown. Contaminated water and takeaway street food were identified as possible sources of the outbreak. Authorities are continuing to trace where patients live and whether they have traveled to determine the extent of the spread.

Officials are preparing medical supplies at 83 other hospitals across the Yangon region while also working to ensure the safety of the city’s water supply. Cholera outbreaks are not uncommon in Myanmar, but health experts say they are relatively rare in Yangon. They have linked the latest outbreak to deteriorating sanitation conditions. Dr. Tin Tun, a doctor and former district chairman in Yangon, said food outlets had not been adequately inspected, water supplies for cleaning were insufficient and drainage systems were no longer being properly maintained.

Although Yangon General Hospital was equipped to treat cholera patients, he warned that other health facilities may not have the same capacity. “If it spreads to other towns and villages where health care services are weak, I am worried that the death rate could be higher,” Dr. Tin Tun said. Reports of cholera cases have also emerged outside the Yangon region. “We have also seen cases among people returning from Yangon,” said Aung Myo, an ambulance worker in Kyaikkhami, Mon State.

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He said a 34-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman tested positive after returning from Yangon. Some of their fellow travelers and family members have subsequently been quarantined. For 15-year-old Yangon resident Sithu Phyo, symptoms began roughly two hours after he ate fermented fish salad with his family last week. By the following day, he was experiencing severe leg cramps and was too weak to walk. “My face had become very thin, my eyes and cheeks were sunken, and I was shaking,” he said.

His family took him to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with cholera and treated him with intravenous fluids.

Myanmar has struggled with infectious diseases for years, while its health care system has been severely affected by the country’s ongoing civil war. UNICEF has said Myanmar has one of the world’s largest populations of children who have never received a vaccine.

Much of the progress made in disease prevention during civilian rule was reversed after the military seized power in 2021. Poverty and conflict continue to create conditions that can contribute to outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.

The latest outbreak also comes as Myanmar experiences some of its heaviest monsoon rains in years, according to local media reports.

Severe flooding can contaminate water supplies and increase the risk of cholera outbreaks. The World Health Organization has also warned that climate change is worsening the conditions that can contribute to such outbreaks.

Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium that causes the disease. It can lead to severe diarrhea and vomiting and, in serious cases, dehydration, kidney failure and death.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as four million people contract cholera worldwide each year, with up to 143,000 deaths. Since the outbreak began last week, Yangon officials have stepped up efforts to disinfect the city’s water supply by injecting chlorine into pipelines, according to the city’s sanitation department. Health officials are also quarantining people who have been in close contact with individuals who tested positive for cholera. If the response proceeds as planned, Dr. Nanda Win said authorities expect the number of cases to fall sharply within a week. “If all goes to plan, “we expect the number of cases to drop significantly within a week,” Dr. Nanda Win said.