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USAID warns of epidemic in tsunami-hit Asia
USAID chief Andrew Natsios warned of potential epidemic outbreaks, including cholera, across Asia after tsunami tragedy.
US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Andrew Natsios warned on Tuesday of potential disease outbreaks, including cholera, in coastal communities across Asia stricken by Sunday's killer tsunamis.
"We are worried because what happens, in any tsunami, these massive waves, is the sewer and water systems get combined. They get put together," Natsios, the USAID Administrator, told CNN.
"And as a result of that, the only water people drink is basically mixed with sewage, and that means a high risk of cholera and other communicable disease that can begin epidemics."
"We're worried about that," he told the network.
Natsios spoke days after a series of killer tsunami waves, triggered by a huge sub sea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, crashed into almost a dozen Asian countries' shorelines early on Sunday.
The confirmed death count is over 55,000 and rising, with Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives among some of the worst hit countries.
He said the US had put 35 million dollars into a bank account that its relief experts could draw on in the field as they aid local relief efforts on the ground.
He also said shelter would be a key element of the huge response effort.
"It's not the wintertime there. And so people are not at risk of hypothermia, but we need shelter materials and blankets just for the evening."
"People are traumatized by this physically and psychologically, and we need to get some shelter arranged for them," he said.
The USAID chief said US rapid response teams, working with local officials and charities, would first carry out on-the-ground assessments to review key needs.
"We need to make sure what we are doing responds to needs on the ground, not what we think from 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) away might be needed," he said.
"I've been through emergencies for 15 years. I've never seen anything so complicated because we're getting reports from Tanzania and Somalia of people getting killed from tidal waves that are from this massive earthquake," he added.
