Cholera And Pyrexia Warning during Thanksgiving Holiday

The National Institute of Health (NIH) announced yesterday that the cholera has broken out intermittently and the tsutsugamushi disease, one of contagious diseases during fall, is likely to be prevalent throughout the nation.

The NIH, in particular, has been worried about the proliferation of cholera during the Thanksgiving Holiday season. According to the data from the NIH, a cholera patient was additionally found in Tongyoung, Kyongnam Province, totaling 9 patients in Tongyoung area, and 139 patients through the whole country.

Thus far, the NIH has not found out yet the infection route for 34 patients irrelevant to the outbreak in the restaurant in Youngcheon City, Kyongbuk Province.

An official of the NIH said, ``Since the considerable amounts of the fishes and clams caught in the Southern Sea have been sold in the market, there is no other prevention measure other than to boiling them before consuming.``

Meanwhile, the feverish diseases such as the tsutsugamushi disease and the leptospirosis are also likely to prevail in the fall season.

The NIH said, ``People should wear the long sleeve, gloves, and rubber boots for the outdoor activities like the visit to ancestral grave and the harvest. And if one experiences high fever and the headache, it is necessary to go to the hospital.``

Jung Young-Gwan yongari@donga.com