Some observations on a cholera outbreak at the Umvoti Mission Reserve, Natal.
Between November 1981 and January 1982 154 consecutive patients with cholera El Tor Inaba were hospitalized at Stanger Hospital, Natal. These cases were traced to 130 households in the Umvoti Mission Reserve, which were ranked according to socioeconomic condition, permanence of housing materials, ablution facilities and purity of water source. Significant associations were found between cholera incidence and both socio-economic conditions and water source; the latter two were also strongly associated. In a number of instances the outbreak did not follow the downstream flow of the rivers. Increased mobility and social gathering over the holiday season appears to have played a role in transmission. The atypical pattern of spread may also have resulted from non-water-borne, person-to-person transmission.
D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014038:Toilet Facilities; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards