South China's school lifts quarantine after cholera outbreak
10/11/2008 17:28
Hainan University in south China's Hainan Province lifted a week-long
quarantine today after a cholera outbreak, officials said.
Students returned
to classrooms, all five canteens resumed service after disinfections and campus
reopened to visitors after no new cases of the infectious disease were reported
for eight consecutive days, said the school's publicity official Zhang
Jiyou.
The school began to restrict visitors on Nov. 2, after eight students
had confirmed cholera cases. Another 23 had suspected cases. Entries and exits
were largely banned and the few who were allowed in and out, were strictly
registered.
To date, 24 people have been discharged from hospital. The
remaining seven are expected to recover soon, said Zhang.
By this morning,
the other 84 students under observation at the university clinic were allowed to
go back to class. They had all been in close contact with cholera
patients.
During quarantine, the school authority organized sporting events,
artistic performances and offered Internet access for free to ease tension, said
Zhang.
Hainan University has more than 30,000 students, including at least 80
from overseas.
Across the island province, 51 cholera cases were confirmed in
the outbreak which started Oct. 20. No deaths were reported, said provincial
health department chief Bai Zhiqin.
Bai announced on Friday the outbreak had
ended, and the island was safe again for tourists.
Experts said floods in
early October and the ensuing warm weather made conditions ideal cholera
outbreaks, typhoid fever and diarrhea.
Cholera has a short incubation period
and at its most acute, it can cause diarrhoea that can lead to death by severe
dehydration and kidney failure.
Xinhua
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