Cholera Unlikely in U.S.; Other Diseases May Pose Health Risks to Americans in 2011

While cholera is unlikely to spread from Haiti to the United States, other viruses and chronic diseases, ranging from dengue to antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis, may pose health risks to Americans in 2011, a University of Alabama epidemiologist predicts.

“Cholera is not likely to spread from person to person,” says Dr. Lea Yerby, assistant professor in the department of community and rural medicine in UA’s College of Community Health Sciences and the Institute for Rural Health Research. “It involves a breakdown in infrastructure such as the sewer system or improper food handling. It usually comes from contaminated food or water.”

Yerby says infectious diseases that are animal or mosquito-borne pose a more serious threat to the United States than cholera.

“Dengue has spread through South America and Mexico. You don’t hear many cases reported in the United States, but it could become a problem along the lines of West Nile virus. Also, Chikungunya fever is coming out of Africa and is starting to be seen in Europe. It’s following the same path as West Nile,” Yerby says.

Of more immediate concern to U.S. health officials, however, are the continuing problems of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis, the responsible use of antibiotics and other resistant bacteria such as MRSA and the rise in HIV infections, particularly in rural areas of the South, she says

“HIV is growing faster in the South than anywhere else in the country,” Yerby says. “The younger generation isn’t taking it as seriously, and the older generation missed the early education so they didn’t think it applied to them. You see a lot of people 65 and older being of greater risk. And there isn’t enough education because people just don’t talk about it here.”

And the effects of the recent recession will continue to affect the health of American citizens, particularly in terms of such chronic problems as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, Yerby says.

“As we get more data, we’ll see the effects that persistent stress has had on our overall status of health,” she says.