Local media in the Dominican Republic inform that the country’s Public Health Ministry is investigating over ten suspected cases of cholera. The Ministry stressed that it does not necessarily mean the people with symptoms have the disease. A Haitian man, Pierre Ronaud, 30, who had cholera-like symptoms, was found not to have the infection after lab tests, said Doctor Bautista Rojas Gomez, Minister of Health.
One confirmed case involving a resident of Higuey, Wilmos Lowes, 32, has made a full recovery and has been discharged from hospital, authorities report. He was the first confirmed case of cholera in The Dominican Republic.
The Health Ministry emphasized that “everything proceeds normally” (“todo sigue normal”) in the country. Authorities are monitoring extra carefully to ensure the Haitian epidemic does not spill over into its neighboring country. Experts and health care professional have been mobilized throughout the country, seeking out and testing patients with cholera-like symptoms, such as diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. Rivers are being checked and if necessary disinfected and extra chlorine has been added to tapwater.
Officials also inform that a 3-month old baby girl who came into hospital with cholera-like symptoms is stable and doing well. Her grandmother, who is at home is being tested.
Dominican Republic health authorities are asking the media not to get carried away when reporting the number of suspected cases, for them to rely on confirmed figures rather than wild speculations and rumor – it is crucial that the population is not alarmed unnecessarily, they added.
The Health Minister, Rojas Gomez said that anybody with diarrhea is a potentially suspect cholera case at the moment. However, it does not mean that everyone with symptoms has cholera. More than ten people are currently being tested, he said.
Armed Forces Minister, Lieutenant Joaquín Virgilio Pérez Féliz has ordered that all border areas be reinforced in order to prevent the entry of infected people from Haiti into the Dominican Republic.
According to official reports, there were no new cases of cholera today, Gomez added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the cholera epidemic will inevitably make its way into the Dominican Republic. However, WHO is sure any outbreak will be nowhere as fast spreading as the Haitian one. The Dominican Republic has more resources and is better equipped to deal with a cholera outbreak, said Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesperson. However, people infected with cholera could have crossed the border before the onset of symptoms.
Over eleven-hundred Haitians have so far died from cholera and at least 18,000 have become infected, Haitian authorities inform.
One individual from Florida who had been to Haiti to visit relatives is the first confirmed case in Florida. Authorities in Florida say that there is virtually no risk of a cholera outbreak in the state.
Dominican residents and tourists are being asked not to buy food or drinks from street vendors because of possible food contamination risk.
Sources: WHO, El Nacional (Dominican Rep. newspaper)
Written by Christian Nordqvist