As Black people considered “privileged” on this Earth because of the fact that we live in America – the World’s wealthiest country (well… at one point we were), it’s important to know and understand the issues that Africans ( our ancestral people) face. The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe is another one of those issues and it rages on and thus far, nothing has improved, with the current death toll reaching over 1000 Africans. It seems the lives of millions have been compromised through close ties between a UN humanitarian coordinator and Zanu-PF. If you didnt know about this problem until now, let me give you a little back story.
Cholera is an infectious bacteria that can be transmitted to humans through eating food or drinking water contaminated with cholera vibrios. The major reservoir for cholera was long assumed to be humans themselves, but considerable evidence exists that aquatic environments can serve as reservoirs of the bacteria. The main characteristic of this disease is deadly diarrhea. In its most severe forms, cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal illnesses known, and a healthy person’s blood pressure may drop to very low levels within an hour of the onset of symptoms; infected patients may die within three hours if medical treatment is not provided. In a common scenario, the disease progresses from the first liquid stool to shock in 4 to 12 hours, with death following in 18 hours to several days, unless oral rehydration therapy is provided.
This disease is spreading in the country’s most rural areas because of unclean water and basically a lack of knowledge. Watch this 20 minute documentary about the epidemic that was produced by ABC Australia and distributed by Journeyman Pictures.
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