PAHO Issues Cholera Update For Haiti, Dominican Republic And Cuba

PAHO Issues Cholera Update For Haiti, Dominican Republic And Cuba

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently released an
Epidemiological Update for cholera in the Caribbean region, covering
Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

According to the report, in Haiti, since the beginning of the epidemic
(October 2010) to epidemiological week (EW) 32 of 2013, the total number
of cholera cases reached 669,645, of which 371,099 were hospitalized and
8,224 died.

Since the Oct. 2012, the number of cases and deaths from cholera has
been a rollercoaster ride of upward and downward trends.

LISTEN: Yale researcher discusses Haiti cholera outbreak and link to UN
peacekeepers

In the neighboring Dominican Republic, since the beginning of the
epidemic (November 2010) through epidemiological week (EW) 30 of 2013
the total number of suspected cholera cases reported was 30,671 of which
454 died.

In Cuba, authorities maintain active and strict clinical-epidemiological
surveillance of acute diarrheal diseases, studying every suspected case.

In early 2013, the National IHR Focal Point of Cuba reported that by
January 14, there were 51 confirmed cases of cholera in an outbreak in
Havana, related to food handling. Previously, a total of 47 cholera
cases had been reported, following Hurricane Sandy, in the provinces of
Camaguey, Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba. All cases were characterized
as Vibrio cholerae toxigenic serogroup O1, serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor.

In addition, in the past several weeks, there has been five cases (Italy
(1), Venezuela (2) and Chile (2)) of cholera reported, all related to
travel to Cuba.

Source: "PAHO issues cholera update for Haiti, Dominican Republic and
Cuba - The Global Dispatch" -
http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/paho-issues-cholera-update-for-haiti-dominican-republic-and-cuba-76732/