About 200 people in Vietnam have cholera
HANOI - Vietnam health officials said Tuesday that 202 people have been infected with cholera in the country's north, which has been struck by an outbreak of acute diarrhoea.
No deaths have been recorded.
Acute diarrhoea has sickened more than 1,450 people in 14 provinces in the last three weeks, said Ministry of Health spokesman Nguyen Quang Thuan.
Officials first suspected the diarrhoea outbreak originated in flood hit areas, but have found no evidence so far.
"Where the bacteria came from is not clear now," Thuan told AFP.
The health ministry confirmed that a Japanese man has tested positive for cholera, Tuoi Tre or Youth newspaper reported Tuesday.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection due to drinking water or food contaminated with the bacteria, Vibrio cholerae. Symptoms are diarrhoea and dehydration, and it can lead to death if untreated.
Health authorities have said raw food and shrimp sauce, which is essential to several traditional dishes in Vietnam, could be the source of the illnesses.
Agence France-Presse - November 13, 2007.
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