The suffering in the bombed cities of Mariupol and Cherson never ends. Dangerous diseases are now threatening to break out in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. According to information from the British Department for Transport, which relies on secret services, the first cases of cholera have already been reported.
Cholera is a bacterial infection that can cause severe diarrhea and dehydration. The disease can be fatal. It is usually transmitted through contaminated water or contaminated food.
There was a severe cholera epidemic in Ukraine in 1995 and since then there have been repeated outbreaks, especially in the southeastern Ukrainian region around Mariupol on the Azov Sea. Now the British are warning: “The medical care in Mariupol is probably already on the verge of collapse. A major cholera outbreak in Mariupol will exacerbate this further.”
Waited two days for ordered water
Russia is struggling to offer basic services to the population in the occupied territories. “Access to clean drinking water is inconsistent, and telephone and internet services continue to be severely disrupted,” the Ministry of Defense said.
The current Russian-installed government has imposed a quarantine on the city, according to Petro Andriuschenko, an adviser to the ousted Ukrainian mayor. In order to get water at all, the residents would have to place an order – with waiting periods of up to two days.
As early as late April, Ukrainian authorities warned that “deadly epidemics might break out in the city because of the lack of a central water supply and sewage system, thousands of bodies are rotting under the rubble, and there is a catastrophic shortage of drinking water and food.”
Cholera Transmission by Refugees?
The cholera reports are closely monitored in Switzerland. Because cholera can also be abducted. Peter M. Keller (43), Deputy Head of Diagnostics at the Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Bern, responds to Blick when asked: “The cholera pathogen can be transmitted by symptomatic people with diarrhea or by people who have recently had the disease. be carried on when travelling. This was also scientifically investigated in connection with the severe earthquake event in Haiti.”
Jan Fehr (49), head of the Public & Global Health department and doctor at the University of Zurich, emphasizes that there will hardly be a large-scale spread via refugees outside the crisis area. Fehr: “Nevertheless, you have to be vigilant here, and our health workers do well to think regarding it if a person from this region is noticed with diarrhea. With cholera patients, the danger is a rapid onset of dehydration that needs to be addressed.”
More diseases threaten
Cholera is not the only disease threatening Ukraine’s already war-torn population. According to the two doctors, a lack of treatment options and vaccination gaps also promote the spread of diseases such as typhus, amoeba, hepatitis A and C, diphtheria, Covid and HIV.
A big topic is also that Tuberculosis, which was more common in the region than here before the war. Fehr: “The situation worsens as people’s immune system becomes weaker, and it can be assumed that there will be even more cases of tuberculosis.”
People with pre-existing conditions are particularly affected by diseases. “Even the most minimal health care is hardly guaranteed anymore,” says Fehr. What was difficult before is getting worse every day.
And something, according to Fehr, should not be forgotten: “Of course, mental health will be a big issue.”
