Increasing floods in between dry periods represent ideal conditions for spreading diseases such as cholera. In Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania located in the desert, precipitations - when they occur - are always accompanied by a cholera epidemic, especially in poor areas where waste matter is not managed. Cholera had almost disappeared globally by the mid 1950s, but it reappeared and spread throughout the world during the last few decades. The World Health Organization (WHO) fears that a rapidly changing climate, combined with declining socio-economic conditions in the poorest part of the population, will contribute to an increasing spread of the disease.
From collection: Vital Water Graphics 2
Philippe Rekacewicz, February 2006