Another Cholera Outbreak Reported in Cuba

After more than 100 years without an outbreak, Cuban health authorities have been forced to close down food stands in Havana after several cholera cases were diagnosed—and this, after eradicating a previous outbreak of the infectious bacterial infection just in August.

The Cuban Health Ministry confirmed 51 cholera cases in this new outbreak, which was traced back to a Havana food vendor who didn’t follow proper sanitary procedures. Once cases started cropping up, Cuban officials closed down food stands and set up sanitary cleaning stations at entrances to buildings so people could disinfect their shoes before going inside.

The statement did not say if anyone had died from the disease, a bacterial infection of the small intestine, which causes severe diarrhea and vomiting in infected people.

According to the World Health Organization, cholera strikes the small intestine with symptoms ranging from severe diarrhea to vomiting causing dangerous dehydration. The bacterial infection occurs in approximately 3- to 5-million people each year, with casualties ranging from 100,000 to 120,000.

Source: CNN