Venezuela confirms 239 cases of cholera

Venezuela confirms 239 cases of cholera

2011-02-04 14:19:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

CARACAS, VENEZUELA (BNO NEWS) --Venezuela's Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed 239 cases of cholera in the country, after a group of nationals contracted the disease during a trip to the Dominican Republic to attend a wedding.

According to the ministry, 153 of these cases are asymptomatic and are receiving medical treatment to avoid transferring the infection to other people. However, 28 patients were hospitalized and 58 others were being treated at their homes.

On January 27, the country's Health Ministry alerted of two reported cholera cases among the group of around 450 people who traveled to the Dominican Republic on January 22.

As the number of cases has gradually increased, health officials said wedding guests were served contaminated lobsters, which were brought from the neighboring country of Haiti, which has been struck with a cholera outbreak that has killed over 4,000 people.

Venezuela's Health Ministry Eugenia Sader, however, underlined that no cases have been reported outside the group of people who attended the wedding.

In addition, other wedding guests were confirmed to have contracted cholera. Twelve of them are in the Dominican Republic, 2 in Madrid, Spain, one in Mexico, and another in Boston, Massachusetts.

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