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. 2018 May;24(5):883-887.
doi: 10.3201/eid2405.171651.

Cholera Epidemic in South Sudan and Uganda and Need for International Collaboration in Cholera Control

Abdinasir Abubakar, Godfrey Bwire, Andrew S Azman, Malika Bouhenia, Lul L Deng, Joseph F Wamala, John Rumunu, Atek Kagirita, Jean Rauzier, Lise Grout, Stephen Martin, Christopher Garimoi Orach, Francisco J Luquero, Marie-Laure Quilici

Cholera Epidemic in South Sudan and Uganda and Need for International Collaboration in Cholera Control

Abdinasir Abubakar et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2018 May.

Abstract

Combining the official cholera line list data and outbreak investigation reports from the ministries of health in Uganda and South Sudan with molecular analysis of Vibrio cholerae strains revealed the interrelatedness of the epidemics in both countries in 2014. These results highlight the need for collaboration to control cross-border outbreaks.

Keywords: Africa; South Sudan; Uganda; Vibrio cholera; bacteria; cholera; enteric infections; epidemic; epidemiological data; molecular microbiology; multilocus variable number tandem repeat.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Locations and molecular analysis of 2014 epidemic in Uganda and South Sudan. A) Affected areas in both countries. Light brown indicates districts where we did not obtain any isolate for molecular analysis; red, orange, and blue areas represent affected districts with cholera isolates included in the analysis. B) Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat (MLVA) analysis. Minimum spanning tree using pairwise difference was generated using Bionumerics version 6.6 (Applied Maths, Inc., Austin, TX, USA). Circles represent the 8 distinct MLVA profiles we identified, numbered chronologically by the earliest isolate of each profile. The MLVA profiles differ by variations at a single variable-number tandem-repeat locus located in the small chromosome only (VCA 0171, VCA 0283). The size of the circles is proportional to the number of isolates in each profile. Colors represent the location of the isolates and correspond with the colors of the areas in Panel A.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Epidemic curve of suspected cholera cases in South Sudan (A) and Uganda (B) in 2014, by hospital admission date and region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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