The epidemics are chasing Dakahlia Governorate ... the Egyptian "Wuhan" from cholera to Corona

Shaima Abdullah

Overnight, the Egyptians were at the center of the new Corona virus outbreak (Covid-19), days after the government data that confirmed Egypt was free of Corona, and that everything said about the virus outbreak in El Mahrousa is pure rumors, but suddenly the course of events changed The growing numbers have become the constant news in the daily bulletins.

On the night of March 17 this year, the Egyptian Minister of Health announced the quarantine of 300 families in the Dakahlia governorate, and the announcement of a new death from the people of the same governorate who was in contact with the first death of the Egyptian woman who died after having had contact with her son's wife from Italy for three days.

And overnight, the Egyptian Dakahlia governorate turned into a "new Wuhan", the first Chinese city in which the new Corona virus appeared, as 300 families in the governorate were subjected to quarantine after fears of the virus spread in the governorate of Belqas, which belongs to the governorates of Lower Egypt in Egypt.

And the shocking news of the memory restored what the governorate suffered in its wars that it fought with various epidemics that passed between its sides. The governorate every year was the cause of the cholera epidemic in 1947.

The focus of cholera in the date season
In a rare lecture published by the Egyptian Ministry of Education in 1948, Dr. Seif El-Nasr Abu State spoke about the history of epidemics in Egypt, especially the cholera epidemic.

Abu State stated in the lecture that the cholera epidemic struck Egypt ten times in its modern history, and the seventh time was the largest share of deaths in the Dakahlia Governorate, after the epidemic came from its first origin in the Faqous Center and the Qurain Village in Sharkia Governorate to Dakahlia Governorate, after many fled From the migrant workers to Al-Qurain from the siege imposed upon it after the discovery of the epidemic heading to the governorate of Dakahlia, and because of this situation, Dakahlia has become a huge center for the spread of the cholera epidemic.

In a research prepared by Dr. Salah El-Sayed Abdel-Al Allam entitled "A cholera epidemic in Egypt in 1947 and local and international efforts in combating it", he mentioned that one of the reasons for the spread of the epidemic in the governorates of Lower Egypt was the "living" date season in Dakahlia Governorate, where the first infection was in the governorate Reported to a man and his woman ahead of the Zagazig in the date season, where huge numbers of merchants and sellers meet, and then the injuries followed.

Allam enumerates the reasons for the cholera epidemic invading the Dakahlia Governorate and is due to the high humidity in the governorate, which means an environment that allows increased activity of the microbe, in addition to the spread of parasitic diseases and pellagra that reduce the acidity of the stomach and that will resist the microbe.

In a survey monitored by Allam’s study, the Dakahlia Governorate’s share of foci of cholera infection in the first week of the outbreak of the epidemic was 13 foci, 25 injuries and two deaths, and the numbers in the fourth week reached 312 foci, 1619 injuries and 866 deaths.

The flu is chasing Dakahlia
Egyptians remember very well the last years of the first decade of the 21st century, when they lived in terrifying seasons, between bird flu scare and swine flu terror, 400 people died of bird flu, and huge amounts of money were lost to their owners due to the spread of the virus that threatened millions and prevented them from eating birds for periods long.

Dakahlia governorate lived its worst nightmares in the period from 2007 when bird flu began to spread, and until now, entering the winter season is a season of terror in the governorate, as a year has not been evident since then unless several deaths from bird flu or the mutated swine flu appear.

With the start of the H5N2 virus in the last month of 2010, Dakahlia Governorate recorded 14 cases of swine flu, and by the beginning of 2011 the number of deaths in the governorate with the same disease had reached 24 cases.

In 2014, the swine flu again pursued the people of Dakahlia, after the death of 4 people, swine flu, was obscured.

And news sites monitored at the time, the people of the governorate gathered in the health directorate to obtain a swine flu vaccine, fearing an outbreak of the epidemic again in their governorate. At the same time, the Doctors Syndicate in Dakahlia published a statement on its official Facebook page after the death of three doctors in the governorate with a viral infection that warned It includes governorate doctors and Egypt doctors from the spread of the virus, and asked them to exercise the highest standards of occupational safety and complete caution in dealing with suspected cases.

Emergency
During the past 24 hours, appeals to the people of Belqas village, not to leave, have spread through social media, and demands that all those attending the funeral of the deceased young man returning from Italy undergo medical examination and isolation, to limit the spread of infection and find out the true numbers of cases infected with the virus.