Cholera cases detected in Venezuela

[rabs]

after a big family reunion in Dominican Republic. Four cases from the same gathering reported in Spain, Mexico, and the United States :shrug:

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By Ezequiel Minaya
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's health minister confirmed Wednesday 21 cases of cholera brought back to the country from a family gathering in the Dominican Republic, according to state run media.

According to the minister, Eugenia Sader, more than 400 Venezuelans attended the event last week, where the disease was transmitted through contaminated food. Twenty-one returning vacationers were getting treatment for cholera in Venezuela with a dozen more seeking medical attention in the Dominican Republic.

Venezuelan authorities also reported that four other cholera cases connected to the reunion have been reported in Spain, the United States and Mexico.

According to state run media, Sader said it is likely that others at the gathering have not yet shown symptoms and could be carrying the infection. She encouraged anyone who was part of the celebration to come forward and receive medical attention within the next 48 hours. Sader attempted to calm the public, saying that the chance of a widespread epidemic in Venezuela was low.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110126-718367.html

[spanza]

1. UN's Nepali soldiers cholera traveling from Hispaniola to Caracas.

"Global" Middle Age Village

[Judi Lynn]

2. Venezuela seeks wedding party cholera victims

Venezuela seeks wedding party cholera victims
January 28, 2011

Venezuelan health authorities appealed Thursday to more than 400 people exposed to cholera at a wedding in the Dominican Republic to report for treatment in order to head off an epidemic.

So far, 37 people have been treated for cholera in Venezuela but authorities were still trying to locate the rest of the 452 people who traveled to the Dominican Republic for the January 22 wedding.

"For us it's important, indispensable, that everyone who attended this event cooperate," said Health Minister Eugenia Sader at a news conference.

"We ask them to seek treatment because they may not have symptoms but be carriers of the bacteria. It's in your hands to keep Venezuela from having an epidemic," she said.

Sader said Venezuela has had no cholera in a decade, and health officials have emphasized that it was crucial to gain control of the outbreak in the first 24 to 48 hours to prevent the imported bacteria from becoming established here.

More:
http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=558154&ChannelId=19

[social_critic]

3. Whoops

I guess Chavez will issue another one of his crazy decrees. Maybe he'll nationalize the private health care system.

[Judi Lynn]

4. 2d cholera case confirmed

2d cholera case confirmed
4 others in Bay State suspected of having disease
By Stephen Smith
Globe Staff / January 29, 2011

The destination was shimmering: a five-star, palm tree-studded resort in the Caribbean. The occasion was joyous: a lavish wedding with a guest roster stretching more than 400 names long.

~snip~
That setting was the Casa de Campo resort, a popular Caribbean destination. The timing of symptoms among wedding guests suggested they caught the germs in the Dominican Republic.

The source of the outbreak is unknown. It has been reported that guests dined on lobster, and shellfish can harbor the germs. But if food is cooked thoroughly, the risk of infection should be mitigated. Cholera most often spreads through tainted water or sewage but can be conveyed by contaminated food.

The resort issued a statement saying that while it “deeply regrets the food poisoning/cholera cases that recently occurred during an exclusive wedding party in a private villa residence within our resort,’’ the food, drinks, and ice were provided by an outside catering company hired by the party’s hosts.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/29/massachusetts_confirms_its_second_cholera_case/

For those of us who've been following news on Cuban "exiles," you may recall that George H. W. Bush huddled with Cuban-Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros immediately after the coup in Venezuela was foiled by the Venezuelan people, at the resort in the D.R. owned by the Cuban "exile" sugar barons, Alfi and Pepe Fanjul. You may recall the hideous working conditions which infested their sugar plantation operations in Florida for years and years, while immigrant workers from the Caribbean islands suffered inhumane treatment,finally winning a lawsuit against them after years of abuse.

Fanjuls. Very popular with U.S. politicians.

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com.nyud.net:8090/socialdiary/2005/01_18_05/images/DR/Pepe-Emilia-Fanjul-Alfo.jpg

Pepe, left, Alfonso, right.

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com.nyud.net:8090/socialdiary/2005/01_18_05/images/DR/Saturday-night-dinner.jpg

[dipsydoodle]

5. I'm guessing

that such outbreaks in the Dominican Republic have been willfully kept out of the news.