Cholera May Reach N.Z.

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32395, 7 September 1970, Page 10

Cholera May Reach N.Z.

(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, Sept. 6. There was a possibility of a cholera epidemic in New Zealand this summer, Dr K, Morris, of Ngongataha, said. Dr Morris holds the degrees B.Sc., Ph.D. and D.Sc., and has spent many years on medical research in Britain and Africa. At one time he was a member of the World Health Organisation. A recent comment that the bacillus cholera was “a mild form” was described by Dr Morris as “dangerous and most irresponsible.” There could, he said, be no such bacillus as a mild form of cholera.

It was possible to carry the disease in the body before

it was known tbat the body was infected, he said. The spread of the disease from the Far East to Guinea had been “rapid,”' and in his great experience this proved that it was a strong bacillus. In these days of- air travel a country such as New Zealand was by no means safe. More and more tourists were coming to New Zealand, and some of them could be carrying the disease. Another possibility of the spread of the bacillus was the polluted water at Rotorua, where, each summer, hundreds of children bathed in the river and lake. “Hundreds of children swim in the most contaminated waters,” said Dr Morris. “The lake is horribly polluted.”

Apart from his many other

qualifications Dr Morris is an epidemiologist, and he has

studied the spread of epidemics in many parts of the world. “The attitude of some local authorities towards the question of pollution is irresponsible,” he said. Five additional cases of cholera were confirmed in Jerusalem yesterday, making 42 incidents of the disease in the Jerusalem area, according to a cable report. Three of the new cases are Arabs living in Jerusalem or id nearby villages. The first fatality from the disease in Israel or the Israeli-held territories occurred on Sunday with the death of a seven-year-old Arab girl from East Jerusalem.

All the other patients were reported to be in a satisfactory condition and several have been released from hospital.