Posted on 11/09/2007 3:48:59 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
As high waters recede, officials rush to ward off onset of disease
VILLAHERMOSA, MEXICO — Holding her pale, 18-month-old grandson in her arms in Tabasco's flooded state capital, Marisela Aceituno wondered whether the infant's vomiting and diarrhea was a sign of the dreaded C word.
Cholera.
"Everything I give him he throws up," Aceituno said as she stroked Christopher's curly brown hair.
With animal carcasses rotting in doorways and disease-carrying mosquitoes in the air, Mexican authorities are racing to prevent Tabasco from turning into a hot zone.
Cholera, malaria and dengue fever, they say, could pose an even bigger risk to the local population than high water.
But due in part to fast-acting health workers and platoons of soldiers who are rigidly enforcing hygiene standards, officials say the region has avoided deadly outbreaks.
Floodwaters are receding after a week of heavy rain that left nearly 1 million homeless in southeastern Tabasco state.
But in some areas, the water remains neck-deep, providing the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are vectors for malaria and dengue. Cholera, in turn, can be transmitted by contaminated water and food.
Dealing with the danger
Dengue fever, which in its most severe hemorrhagic form can lead to brain damage and death, is endemic in Tabasco, but there has been no spike in the number of cases. Likewise, malaria and cholera have yet to rear their ugly heads.
But no one is celebrating just yet.
Dengue and malaria, for example, have a nearly weeklong incubation period, so cases could spring up in the coming days. Mexico's last outbreak of cholera occurred in 1997 when health officials reported 2,356 cases.
"We have teams of firefighters," said Dr. Miguel Betancourt, the Mexican government's director for health emergencies, referring to the massive deployment of doctors, nurses and sanitation officials to...
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Eliud Oyarzabal, a government sanitation expert, dipped his hand into the water trough and scooped out rat droppings."
No tomas el agua.
A test for Mexico as Katrina was a test for America. One does not have to wonder how quickly the elites of Mexico will respond. The elites, of Mexico, will have another drink of alcohol, a fine dinner, and say, “Let someone else clean it up....How is the money from the US coming along? Baby needs a new pair of shoes from those nasty gringos”
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
This is SO flipping wrong. There is a LOT OF WEALTH in that country.....!!!!!!
I am NOT being sarcastic! Why in the name of Heaven that country doesn’t care for it’s own is beyond me.
Because we do.
Malaria? Dengue fever? We got rid of those about 60 years ago with DDT!!! “Let us return to the past and what progress there will be.”
The main reason the Mexican elite don’t give a rats butt about the pitiful poor people of Mexico is simple!! They have the bleeding hearts in the USA to care.
It works and it has been working for a long time, Shame has no roll in Mexico, they figure the people of the USA owes payment. Mexico has existed long before the USA and Canada ever existed. what happened to Mexico, why has the USA and Canada made out better than Mexico, resources are as good in Mexico as in the USA and Canada
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