Citation
Shannon, Kerry L.; Hast, Marisa A.; Azman, Andrew S.; Legros, Dominique; McKay, Heather S.; & Lessler, Justin (2019). Cholera Prevention and Control in Refugee Settings: Successes and Continued Challenges. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 13(6), e0007347. PMCID: PMC6586254Abstract
Cholera has long been viewed as a serious threat for refugee populations. In the 1980s and 90s, refugee camps proliferated in Africa and Asia as a result of large civil wars and environmental disasters. These camps experienced large-scale cholera outbreaks with regularity because of overcrowding, scarce clean water, and poor sanitation and hygiene practices. Death rates were often high because of preexisting malnutrition, comorbidities, and limited access to medical care. With appropriate clinical management, cholera mortality can be well below 1%, but it can be as high as 50%–60% without proper care. During this time, humanitarian organizations developed a variety of guidelines and standards to reduce morbidity and mortality during cholera outbreaks in these populations. Mobilization around these issues was greatly accelerated in 1994, when a particularly massive outbreak occurred among Rwandan refugees in the Lake Kivu region of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and approximately 42,000 people died. In response to this unprecedented tragedy, the humanitarian community developed and adopted the Sphere standards for the minimum acceptable living conditions and availability of health services in refugee camps and other humanitarian responsesURL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007347Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2019Journal Title
PLOS Neglected Tropical DiseasesAuthor(s)
Shannon, Kerry L.Hast, Marisa A.
Azman, Andrew S.
Legros, Dominique
McKay, Heather S.
Lessler, Justin
Article Type
RegularPMCID
PMC6586254Continent/Country
AfricaAsia