RUSSIA: MOSCOW PREPARES AGAINST POSSIBLE OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA WITH COULD SPREAD FROM SOUTHERN RUSSIA

Record ID: 646491

  • Title: RUSSIA: MOSCOW PREPARES AGAINST POSSIBLE OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA WITH COULD SPREAD FROM SOUTHERN RUSSIA
  • Date: 15th August 1994
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 15, 1994) 1. GV TRAIN FROM BAKU ARRIVES IN KURSKY RAILWAY STATION (2 SHOTS) 0.14 2. SLV SANITATION INSPECTORS BOARD TRAIN AND QUESTION TRAIN CHIEF (3 SHOTS) 0.27 3. LV TRAIN FROM MAKHACHKALA IN KURSKY RAILWAY STATION, PEOPLE WAITING ON PLATFORM 0.30 4. LV PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STAIRS TOWARDS CAMERA IN RAILWAY STATION 0.35 5. GV MEDICAL EMERGENCY ROOM IN RAILWAY STATION, WOMAN TALKING ON TELEPHONE (2 SHOTS) 0.41 6. GV PEOPLE QUEUING FOR DOCTOR, ONE IN WHEELCHAIR/ EMPTY TREATMENT ROOM (2 SHOTS) 0.48 7. LV FRUIT STALL IN MOSCOW STREET/ CU MELONS 0.55 8. LV EXTERIOR MOSCOW SANITATION CENTRE, PERSON ENTERING, CU SIGN (2 SHOTS) 1.02 9. SCU HEAD OF MOSCOW SANITATION DEPARTMENT'S INFECTIOUS DISEASES SECTION, LUDMILLA RODINA SAYS THERE IS A REAL DANGER THAT CHOLERA IN DAGESTAN COULD THREATEN OTHER REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, BUT INSISTS MOSCOW IS READY TO MEET THE THREAT (RUSSIAN) 1.26 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 30th August 1994 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1KI170IV0M9VKMMHSAMA06ZBG
  • Story Text: Moscow's sanitation department began a clean-up operation on Monday (August 15) aimed at preventing cholera from reaching the Russian capital, as an outbreak of the disease in southern Russia threatened to spread further afield.

    Russian health officials said 14 people had died from cholera in Dagestan, northern Caucasus, and a further 478 were suffering from the disease. Officials in Moscow said on Friday the city was in danger of an outbreak after 24 people from Dagestan suspected of harbouring cholera escaped from quarantine.

    Five towns in Dagestan were declared quarantine zones this month following an outbreak of cholera among pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia.

    Trains from Baku arriving at Moscow's Kursky railway station via Dagestan were inspected by health officials. All passengers were checked and the driver of the train asked if anyone had fallen ill during the journey.

    Interfax news agency quoted an official at Russia's emergencies ministry as saying tonnes (tons) of disinfectant had been sent to the semi-autonomous republic to help tackle the outbreak.

    Head of the Moscow sanitation department's infectious diseases section, Ludmila Rodina, said there was a real danger that cholera in Dagestan could pose a threat to other regions of the Russian Federation, but she insisted Moscow was prepared.

    Rodina said trains and aircraft from Dagestan or travelling through the area from Baku or Tbilisi would now be inspected by sanitation officials. She added such inspections had already led to the discovery of three cholera cases.

    Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. It leads to severe dehydration and can be fatal within hours. The disease is usually spread by contaminated water and food.

    Fruit sellers on the streets of Moscow said their products came from Azerbaijan and Turkey, adding that no fruit had been allowed out of Dagestan since the outbreak of cholera.

    The disease is one of a series which have spread through former Soviet republics where health services are underfunded and ill-equipped and standards of hygiene notoriously low.


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