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By Associated Press, The Washington Post, July 9, 2012
HAVANA — Authorities in eastern Cuba are in full prevention mode to
contain a rare cholera outbreak amid fears that it may have spread to the
capital, distributing chlorine and water purification drops and quarantining
hospital patients with diarrhea until they are checked for the disease.
In the eastern city of Manzanillo, in Granma province, cars crawl
through the streets with loudspeakers reminding people of the importance of
good hygiene, and the sale of oysters at private kiosks has been suspended,
according to several residents interviewed by The Associated Press. But there
has been no travel quarantine on the city, and the streets are calm even if
some people are jittery.
“I haven’t seen any panic or anything like that,” David Chavez, a
40-year-old computer worker, said by phone from Manzanillo, 430 miles (700
kilometers) east of Havana. “But what’s certain is that there are some who are
scared. And when somebody gets diarrhea, they immediately go to the hospital.”
The precautions follow last week’s announcement of three deaths and 53
diagnosed cases of the waterborne disease, which hadn’t been seen in Cuba for
many years. Cholera can kill quickly through dehydration but is easily
treatable if caught in time. A Health Ministry bulletin said the outbreak was
under control.
The government has not responded to requests for comment on reports
that several cases have been found in Havana, nor has it followed up last
week’s announcement with more information, fueling rumors and contradictory
stories.
Residents of the capital’s El Cerro neighborhood told the AP that a
father and daughter had been diagnosed with cholera and were being treated at a
local hospital, but it was not clear where they had contracted the disease. The
residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear they would get into trouble
for talking to international journalists.
The BBC reported over the weekend that at least one case of cholera
had been detected in Havana, without naming its sources. The Miami Herald,
quoting an apparent dissident who lives in Granma province, said more than
1,000 people had been sickened. And exile blogs such as Cafe Fuerte have
reported additional deaths, citing residents and unnamed officials.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a staunch anti-Castro congresswoman
from Florida, accused the Cuban government of withholding information to avoid
scaring away tourists.
Amid the uncertainty, there were also reports that airports in
southeastern Mexico had issued a medical alert and were screening passengers
from Cuba. But Mexican officials denied that.
“There has not been even a single passenger suspected” of carrying
cholera, said Luis Vazquez, spokesman for the Yucatan state health agency.
“Cuba is a country with a very good epidemiological system. They don’t even let
(sick) passengers leave.”
Cuba has a well-organized civil defense system capable of rapidly
mobilizing government agencies and citizens’ groups, as it does for tropical
storms and hurricanes. Brigades of workers routinely scrutinize every dwelling
and other property to eliminate standing water where mosquitos bearing another
tropical disease, dengue, could breed.
The country also has battalions of well-trained doctors and nurses,
many of whom played a key role in fighting a much deadlier cholera outbreak in
nearby Haiti after that country’s devastating earthquake.
The Manzanillo outbreak happened in poor outlying neighborhoods that
rely on wells for their water. Cuba’s Health Ministry said in its announcement
last week that it was collecting samples from the wells, sealing off tainted
water supplies and disinfecting hydraulic systems.
Doctors were going door to door to look for people running a fever and
to advise residents about preventive measures such as using chlorine drops to
disinfect drinking water.
Hotels in Manzanillo were accepting guests as usual, but have ramped
up hygienic measures. At the Guacanayabo Hotel everyone was washing their hands
and feet in buckets with chlorinated water and the pool was being treated
daily.
“There are meetings every day at noon to go over how everything’s
going, and so far there are no problems here,” hotel worker Luleima Ortiz said
by phone.
Some people in Havana were also taking precautions.
One man, a barber, said he was washing his hands more often, avoiding
touching his mouth at work and boiling his drinking water.
Another, a street vendor, got rid of the cardboard box he had used to
hold his sweet pastries, replacing it with a plastic one that’s easier to keep
clean and does a better job keeping the flies away.
“I, as a vendor, must protect and take care of others,” Alfredo
Bruceta said.
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