LEVY MWANAWASA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

NAME: ETHEL NAYAME

PROGRAME: BSC PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION

SIN: 190 200 967

LECTURER’S NAME: DR. M. NJOBVU

COURSE NAME: COMMUNICABLE AND NON COMMUNICABLE DISESES

COURSE CODE: CNC 301

DATE : 30/05/2021

ASSIGNMENT: 2

Copyright @2021
 1. What condition/s was met before the cholera epidemic was declared?

Zambia Ministry of Health (MoH) launched a multifaceted public health response that included
increased chlorination of the Lusaka municipal water supply

Provision of emergency water supplies, water quality monitoring and testing.

 Enhanced surveillance
 Epidemiologic investigations
 Cholera vaccination campaign
 Aggressive case management
 Health care worker training, and
 Laboratory testing of clinical samples.

2. The authors indicate working with other partners for a multifaceted response. State why it is
important to engage with such partners.

It is important to for Ministry of Health to have worked with multiple organizations, including the
Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI), the Zambia Field Epidemiology Training Program
(ZFETP), Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Africa Centre
for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to investigate the cholera outbreak and guide targeted,
timely response activities.

3. What was the environmental “vehicle” that facilitated the movement of the causative agent
(V. cholerae) in this outbreak?

The results indicated that most respondents (58%) believed poor hygiene to be the cause of cholera;
63% identified drinking contaminated water as a risk factor.

4. What were the two most important risk factors for a person to suffer the disease?

Preliminary results indicated that the odds of developing cholera were higher among those who:

 Had contact with a person with cholera and

 Consumption of untreated water

5. Based on the identified risk factors, suggest measures needed to control the epidemic. Did the
authors perform these measures?
 To identify risk factors associated with death from cholera.
 A case-control mortality study matched by age and date of onset.
 Preliminary results indicated that the odds of dying from cholera were less among those who
stayed an additional night at a CTC (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.04–0.88), underscoring the
importance of access to cholera treatment, including rehydration.
  This is to show that authors performed in the measures to control the epidemic.

6. Control of faeco-oral diseases, including cholera, requires instituting barriers as shown in the
diagram below. From this article identify control measures (barriers) that were instituted and
indicate them at the appropriate place in the diagram below.

St Cho
an lera A
da pre 2-
rdi ven do
ze tio se
d n or
ch and al
ol wat ch
er er ol
a tre er
ca at a
se me va
de nt
fin
Source: Source: Penakalapati et al. 2017

References:
1. Nyambe S, Brunkard JM, Kapata N et al. Cholera epidemic – Lusaka, Zambia, October 2017 – May 2018.
MMWR 2018 May 18;67(19):556-59
2. Penakalapati G, Swarthout J, Delahoy MJ, McAliley L, Wodnik B, Levy K et al. Exposure to animal faeces
and human health: a systematic review and proposed research priorities. Environ. Sci. Technol.
2017;51:11537-552