Disclosing the findings of a high-tech lab test carried out by the Center for Molecular Dynamics of Nepal (CMDN), Dr Chop Lal Bhusal, Chairman of NHRC, said, “The outbreak was the consequence of an amalgamation of various types of dangerous bacteria.” [break]
He said that the government should have resorted to some other medication to contain the outbreak before it became devastating. “The lessons learnt from the Jajarkot outbreak may be useful in fighting forthcoming epidemics,” he said.
The latest lab test found Aeromonos, Shigella, Campylobacter, VTEC and E.Coli O157:H7 bacteria in stool samples collected from patients during the Jajarkot outbreak.
“We found bacterial strains of Aeromonos as high as those of cholera,” Sameer M Dixit, country director of CMDN, said, adding, “All bacteria were combined either with Cholera or Aeromonos.”
According to Dixit, all types of bacteria found in the lab test were water-borne. “We have, therefore, concluded that the Jajarkot outbreak was caused by contaminated water,” he said. “But we need further research with a high number of samples to scientifically substantiate our conclusion.”
Contrary to NHRC´s own previous findings, the lab test detected no food-borne bacteria like Salmonella and Clostridium perfringes. Bacteria of Yersinia Entercolitica and Clostridium Difficile--which primarily exist in water and soil--were also not detected in the lab test.
The previous findings had substantiated the belief of different non-governmental organizations that the outbreak was caused or at least abetted by rotten foods being distributed by the World Food Program (WFP).
According to health experts, symptoms of Aeromonos are similar to those of cholera. “It also triggers diarrhea and thereby dehydration,” Dixit said. “But it is not as fatal as cholera.”
Though Aeromonos bacteria was largely prevalent, the main cause of deaths of among victims of the Jajarkot epidemic was in fact cholera, according to Dixit.
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