title: Cholera Outbreak in Grande Comore: 1998-1999.
abstract: In 1998, a cholera epidemic in east Africa reached the Comoros Islands, an archipelago in the Mozambique Channel that had not reported a cholera case for more than 20 years. In just a little over 1 year (between January 1998 and March 1999), Grande Comore, the largest island in the Union of the Comoros, reported 7,851 cases of cholera, about 3% of the population. Using case reports and field observations during the medical response, we describe the epidemiology of the 1998-1999 cholera epidemic in Grande Comore. Outbreaks of infectious diseases on islands provide a unique opportunity to study transmission dynamics in a nearly closed population, and they may serve as stepping-stones for human pathogens to cross unpopulated expanses of ocean.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Troeger
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaudart
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Truillet
authors.forename: Kankoe
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sallah
authors.forename: Dennis L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piarroux
mesh_terms: D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history*; D017507:Comoros / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors