MGR Online — The Myanmar government has reported that a diarrhea outbreak in Yangon, the country's largest city, has killed one person and left nearly 200 others ill.
Authorities said 182 patients were admitted to hospitals in Yangon between August 9 and 13, and that a 92-year-old citizen died from severe diarrhea.
The majority of patients came from 4 of the city's 6 central townships, which include commercial districts and densely populated areas, among them Yangon's Chinatown, known for its street food.
The outbreak is spreading rapidly, with 28 cases recorded on Sunday and Monday, before rising to 154 cases and one death on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The main cause is contaminated food and water," a doctor in Yangon told the Irrawaddy news agency, adding that severe diarrhea spreads through undercooked or unhygienically handled food, unsanitary street food, items exposed to flies, unboiled drinking water, or contaminated water used in cooking.
Symptoms of severe diarrhea or cholera generally appear within a few hours to five days after infection; however, asymptomatic carriers can spread bacteria or viruses through their feces for one to ten days.
On Wednesday, authorities ordered the closure of street food stalls across the affected townships — including 19th Street, the hub of street food in Chinatown — for three to five days.
"This closure order applies to all types of roadside stall vendors, salad shops, mohinga stalls, and pork skewer sellers," a street food vendor from Latha Township told the Irrawaddy, adding that he did not yet know when he would be permitted to reopen.
In addition to the closure of street food stalls, municipal officials also added extra chlorine to the tap water supply to kill bacteria.
"Diarrhea was bound to happen because the street food stalls in Chinatown are situated right next to rubbish bins, and garbage is overflowing everywhere," said a Yangon resident from Latharya Township.
