Neighbours panic as cholera grips Albania

THE governments of Italy and Greece, alarmed at evidence of a cholera crisis in south-east Europe and the former Soviet Union, yesterday offered medical equipment and experts to Albania to contain the outbreak.

Italy is increasing air and naval patrols in the Adriatic Sea to prevent potentially infected Albanians from entering without permission, while Greek health officials said that extra chlorine had been added to Greek water systems. 'This is a worrying phenomenon, cholera on our doorstep,' said Italy's Health Minister, Raffaele Costa.

Five people have died of cholera this month in the central Albanian town of Kucove, and another 40 cases have been identified. An outbreak in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan killed 18 people earlier this summer, and two others recently died in Simferopol, capital of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

There is no proof that the outbreaks in Albania, Dagestan and Crimea are connected. One factor linking the three areas is the inadequacy of health and water services. In Simferopol, where two hospitals have admitted 294 people with cholera symptoms, many houses lack regular running water. The river Salgir, which runs through the city, has turned into a fly-ridden stream. Eighteen schools in and around Simferopol have been closed to reduce contact between children.

Ukraine's most senior epidemiologist, Viktor Mariyevsky, told the Crimean parliament this week: 'Even in the hospital where the cholera patients have been placed, there is no water purification unit. We must upgrade our facilities to fight this disease, but the Crimean government has no money for it.'

The cholera outbreak in Albania will arouse particular concern if spreads into the former Yugoslavia, where war has destroyed health services. Bosnia has been spared epidemics despite 29 months of fighting that has damaged hospitals and water facilities.

Doctors in Romania last week reported their first confirmed cholera case this year. They said an 11-year-old girl in Medgidia, near the Black Sea, had been hospitalised after returning from Turkey.

The worst affected region remains Dagestan, where hundreds of people have been treated for cholera. The Russian government sent troops last month to fight the spread of the disease. Medical students were released early from university to help out. But at least one was later admitted to hospital with cholera in Krasnodar, west of Dagestan.