Disease Threatens Flood-Ravaged Asia

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, DisasterRelief.org, with news reports
After monsoon rains killed at least 300 people and left millions of villages under water across Asia over the past three weeks, the soggy region is facing another crisis. Officials in Bangladesh and India, where some of the worse flooding has occurred, say the death toll is rising sharply as a result of disease.

In Bangladesh, stagnant pools of water left from weeks of rain and flooding have become ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and could possibly spark a dengue fever epidemic. Already, at least 1,500 people have been infected and more than 21 have died from the disease over the past three weeks, according to health officials.

The potentially fatal disease has hit at least 14 flood-ravaged cities, including the capital, Dhaka, according to an International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) report. But officials worry that the virus also may be taking a toll in rural areas, which remain cut off from relief and rescue workers due to the floods.

Relief and government workers first became alarmed when the number of people infected rose from 176 to 522 in just four days, between July 27 and July 31. Bangladesh is already susceptible to malaria, but dengue fever is particularly alarming because it has no cure and no vaccine. Fever, excruciating muscle and joint pains, high fever and severe headaches characterize the disease. In its most virulent form, it causes internal bleeding and death.

The Bangladesh Red Crescent (BDRCS) and World Health Organization (WHO) have begun to address the problem, hoping to bring it under control before there are more fatalities. BDRCS has set up a 30-bed dengue ward at a local hospital, with plans to expand if the need arises. The national society is being assisted by the IFRC, which is supplying blood bags and dengue testing kits. WHO is training four BDRCS doctors to deal with the potential public health crisis.

BDRCS volunteers are conducting door-to-door campaigns, urging people to drain stagnant water, potential mosquito breeding sites. Red Cross volunteers also plan a clean-up campaign to help clear floodwaters from the streets.

The dengue fever outbreak comes on the heels of heavy monsoon rains that flooded thousands of villages in northern Bangladesh and India over the past several days. Millions of people have been left homeless and 400,000 marooned in Kurigram, Gaibandha and Lalmonirhat, the worst hit districts. A Bangladeshi official said that the government had yet to respond to the disaster.

Floods and cyclones ravage Bangladesh, a low-lying nation of 130 million people, each year. In 1991, a cyclone killed 140,000 people.

The Asian monsoon season has left at least 300 dead or missing and millions homeless across South Asia. Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bhutan also have been hit with torrential downpours. But heavy rains have brought the most severe flooding to northeastern India and Bangladesh.

In northeastern India, at least 3,500 villages in 16 of the state's districts were submerged. People stranded in trees and on rooftops have been forced to drink flood waters that contain sludge and sewage. As a result, dysentery, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases have caused half the deaths in the northern regions of India's Assam state.

At least 35 people have died from disease - encephalitis, dysentery and malaria - spread by the standing waters in Assam. At relief camps, doctors have been overcome by patients with these flood-related illnesses.

Drowning has caused at least another 40 deaths in Assam since incessant rains caused the Brahmaputra River to overflow. Swirling, mucky waters forced millions from their homes onto rooftops, tree branches and telephone poles, where many continue to wait for help. So far, soldiers and air force helicopters have rescued more than 5,000 stranded people from different areas of the country.

In India's Bihar state, 1 million people have been displaced, 1,015 villages submerged and 4,000 homes destroyed. Officials said thousands of villagers in Bihar refuse to move to relief camps because they fear looting.

Flooded roads and railways have hampered relief efforts, but Indian military officials have airlifted food, medicine and tents to many stranded flood victims.

Officials in both India and Bangladesh said that floodwaters were beginning to recede. But Bangladesh media warned that flooding still could get worse because rainwater was still flowing into Bangladesh from swollen Indian rivers upstream. Also, relief officials warned that the monsoon season will not end until mid-September. Bangladesh and India share more than 50 rivers.

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