VENEZUELA CHOLERA OUTBREAK CONTAINED: OFFICIAL
(AFP) -
CARACAS — The government of Venezuela has said that it had contained a cholera outbreak that at its peak sickened hundreds of its citizens, who caught the disease at a wedding in the Dominican Republic.
Officials in Caracas said they planned to implement a followup program this week to verify that every remnant of the disease had been completely eradicated throughout the country, but were confident that they had halted its spread.
The illness infected some 450 Venezuelans who attended a wedding last month in the Dominican Republic that borders Haiti, which was the original source of the outbreak of the waterborne bacterial disease.
Venezuela said it succeeded in stopping the spread of the disease by putting those who attended the wedding under quarantine.
"The incubation period is over" for those who infected with or exposed to cholera to be able to pass it to others, Health Minister Eugenia Sader said Sunday.
The government also credited a media campaign to warn the public about the disease and urge strict hygiene measures for helping to control the outbreak.
Although treatable, the potentially fatal cholera disease can strike swiftly, causing intense diarrhea, vomiting and nausea that leads to severe dehydration.
The Haiti outbreak killed some 4,000 people after infecting more than 200,000 since October.
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