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01/15/13 - Wall Street Journal - Cuba Acknowledges 51 Cholera Cases

Associated Press

HAVANA-Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged 51 new cases
of cholera in the capital amid growing concerns about the spread of the
illness and disappointment in the diplomatic community over the
government's lack of transparency.

The ministry said nobody had died from the latest outbreak, which began
Jan. 6, and stressed that preventive measures already taken had put the
disease "on the way to extinction." It said cholera was first detected in
the capital's Cerro neighborhood, and then spread elsewhere. No other
areas of the capital were mentioned, but there have been reports of cases
in the leafy Playa neighborhood that is home to many foreign embassies.

The government hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment in recent
months, nor has it made any experts available to talk about the cholera
situation. The family of one man, 46-year-old Ubaldo Pino Rodriguez, told
the Associated Press last week that he died of cholera in Cerro on Jan. 2,
about two weeks after going to the hospital with severe vomiting.

Mr. Rodriguez's sister, Yanise Pino, said her brother had a drinking
problem and lived in squalid and unhygienic conditions in a tiny makeshift
wooden dwelling.

"When he began to feel bad he thought it was from drinking and nothing
else," she said, adding that he left the hospital of his own accord last
month. She said that following his death authorities sealed off his room
and told her to burn all his belongings.

Juan Bautista Ferrera, a retiree in Havana's Miramar neighborhood, told AP
that he was hospitalized with cholera for five days last week after
suffering severe diarrhea.

"I was isolated in a room and nobody could come to see me. I communicated
with my wife by phone," he said, adding he never worried about his life.
"I'm 75 years old and I don't fear anything. The medical attention was
very good so I never thought for a minute I could die of it."

Mr. Ferrera's wife, Caridad Neyes, said health workers gave them chlorine
to clean their home and handed out medicine. She said several restaurants
in the neighborhood were closed but have since reopened.

Cholera is a waterborne disease caused by a bacteria found in tainted
water or food. It can kill within hours through dehydration, but is
treatable if caught in time. Cholera is unusual in Cuba. But recent
outbreaks in nearby Haiti have killed more than 7,200 people.

It was unclear why a new outbreak was being seen in Havana. Rains, which
can help spread the disease, are common in January, but the weather has
been unusually dry this year.

In August, Cuba said that a cholera outbreak had run its course after
sickening 417 people and leaving three dead. That outbreak originated in
the eastern city of Manzanillo, in Granma province. Some have speculated
the epidemic gained new life following the widespread devastation caused
in October by Hurricane Sandy, which damaged more than 200,000 homes in
eastern Cuba.

Several European diplomats have told AP they are considering issuing
travel advisories to citizens planning visits to Cuba, and have been
concerned that the government isn't sharing information with them in a
timely manner. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't
authorized to speak publicly.

Tourism is the top sector in Cuba's flagging Communist economy, with 2.8
million visitors a year and about $2.5 billion in annual revenue. A major
cholera outbreak is sure to make some visitors think twice about a trip,
despite Cuba's sterling reputation in responding to epidemics and natural
disasters.

The island has a well-organized civil defense system capable of rapidly
mobilizing government agencies and citizens groups. Brigades of workers go
door to door, noisily fumigating homes and admonishing residents to
eliminate standing water where mosquitoes bearing another tropical
disease, dengue, could breed.

American tourists are barred from visiting Cuba due to the half-century
old economic embargo, but 400,000 Cuban-Americans come down each year for
family visits, and about 100,000 others get licenses to come on cultural
or other exchanges. There have been no reports so far of any tourists
coming down with the illness.

Tuesday's Public Health Ministry statement-carried in the Communist Party
newspaper Granma and elsewhere-made no mention of any cholera cases
reported outside Havana.

While Cuba's state-run media had been largely silent about cholera before
Tuesday, there has been an intensified campaign against waterborne
diarrhetic illnesses, of which cholera is one. Several health centers in
the capital require visitors to sanitize their shoes by stepping in
chlorine when they enter, and state schools have been stressing
hand-washing and other hygiene measures.

While some have voiced nervousness over the outbreak, many said they were
confident the government had a strong handle on the outbreak.

Beatriz Guerra, a 26-year-old mother of two who lives in Miramar, said a
state-run school attended by her eldest son was closed briefly last week
to clean and disinfect the rooms and furniture. She said residents had
been advised at neighborhood meetings to take precautions and be
particularly vigilant of what their children were touching and putting in
their mouth.

"I know that they are taking the necessary measures," she said. "One just
needs to be very cautious."


Original Source / Fuente Original:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235104578243960268952462.html?mod=googlenews_wsj