A rapidly-progressing outbreak of cholera in a shelter-home for mentally-retarded females,Amta-II block,Howrah,West Bengal,India

On 13 may 2010,a cluster of diarrhoeal disease cases was reported among the inmates of a shelter-homefor mentally-retarded females in parbaksi village of howrah district in west bengal,india. the outbreak wasinvestigated to identify the aetiological agent and source of infection and to propose recommendations. asuspected case of cholera was defined as an acute onset of >3 loose watery stools in a female resident of theshelter-home since 1 may 2010. the demographic and clinical details were collected from the suspectedcase-patients,and the outbreak was described by time,place,and person. a retrospective cohort study wasconducted to identify the risk factors associated with the illness. of the 101 inmates,91 (90%) developeddiarrhoea,and three patients died (case fatality-3%). four of the five stool specimens were positive for vibriocholerae o1 ogawa. drinking of water from the pond-connected tubewell (adjusted odds ratio=25.7,95% confidence interval 2.7-236.4) was associated with the illness. relocation of the pond-connected tubewellaway from the groundwater tubewell,colour-coding of the tubewells meant for drinking purposes,and regular disinfection of the tubewells were recommended. © international centre for diarrhoeal disease research,bangladesh.