A Belgian female tourist and a Japanese person have contracted
cholera in Vietnam, which has hit 202 people in the country, local
newspaper Pioneer reported Monday.
Specimens from the 36-year-old tourist, who vomited many times
and had diarrhea after traveling from southern Ho Chi Minh City to
Hanoi capital, was initially tested positive to cholera virus. She
is now being treated at the Hanoi-based Tropical Disease
Hospital.
Some foreign tourists in the same group with her have shown
similar but less serious symptoms. They, after flying from Ho Chi
Minh City to Hanoi, have traveled to northern Quang Ninh
province.
The Japanese person, who earlier ate tofu and raw shrimp paste
and drank beer in a street-side restaurant in Vietnam, was
initially reported to have contracted cholera virus. The person's
health is recovering.
Now, specimens from the two foreigners are being thoroughly
tested for cholera virus at the country's National Epidemiology and
Hygiene Institute.
Acute diarrhea have infected over 1,600 people in 13 cities and
provinces in Vietnam, of whom 202 have contracted cholera viruses
since Oct. 23, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Medicine
Department under the Vietnamese Health Ministry.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the ministry
to lead a multi-sector taskforce to monitor food hygiene and
control the disease, especially in flood-hit areas.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2007)