As of April 5, 1982, a provisional total of 36,840 cholera
cases
had been reported worldwide for 1981, as compared with 42,614 in
1980. Altogether, 34 countries were infected, the same number as
in
1980, and an additional eight countries reported only imported
cases
(Table 3). Only one new country was infected.
In Africa, the total number of countries with cholera declined
from 16 in 1980 to 14 in 1981. A total of 17,521 cases were
reported,
as compared with 18,731 in 1980. However, the disease appeared to
be
more widespread in countries in southeastern Africa, and Swaziland
reported infection for the first time during the present pandemic.
Seventeen countries in Asia reported cholera infection in 1981,
as
compared with 15 in 1980; the total number of cases was 19,255
(23,851
in 1980). There was a noticeable recrudescence of cholera in the
Eastern Mediterranean area where six countries were infected, four
more than in the previous year; the most severely affected were
Iran
and Jordan.
Cholera was again observed on the Gulf Coast of the United
States,
where 19 cases occurred, including an outbreak of 17 cases among
employees of an oil rig in the coastal region of Texas. The
outbreak
was considered due to contamination of unchlorinated drinking water
with drilling water and sewage containing V. cholerae 01 shed by
the
index case; the source of infection for the index case could not be
determined. All the strains from the 31 cases occurring along the
Gulf Coast since 1973 appear to be essentially identical,
suggesting
that the toxigenic V. cholerae 01 has persisted in this region for
at
least the last 8 years.
Oceania remained free of cholera in 1981, with the exception of
two cases in Australia (at Lismore in New South Wales).
Apart from one isolated case in France, no indigenous cases
were
reported from Europe. There was, however, a significantly larger
number of imported cases than in previous years.
Reported by WHO Weekly Epidemiologic Record 1982;57:131.
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