* Heavy rains, high temperatures blamed for bad water
* Cuba says measures taken, outbreak slowing
HAVANA, July 3 (Reuters) – Three people have died of cholera
and another 50 have been diagnosed with the illness in an
outbreak caused by contaminated well water, the Cuban government
said on Tuesday.
It blamed recent heavy rains and high temperatures for the
water problems, which forced the closure of some wells and the
chlorination of the water system in the hardest hit areas.
The Public Health Ministry said in a statement that the
township of Mazanillo in the southeast province of Granma had
suffered the most cholera cases, which have occurred in the last
few weeks, but that the outbreak is slowing.
It said the three people who died ranged in age from 66 to
95 and suffered from other, chronic health problems.
Cholera outbreaks have been rare, or at least not
publicized, in Cuba since the 1959 revolution and the creation
of a national health system by the communist government.
Cholera causes intestinal problems and can lead to death if
not treated promptly and properly.
Cuba has touted its medical role in nearby Haiti, where
Cuban doctors and nurses have worked since that country’s 2010
earthquake to, among other things, contain a cholera outbreak
that has killed more than 7,000 people.
It is not unusual for Cubans to complain that the government
sends too many of its doctors abroad to earn money for the
country and promote its humanitarian image and has left the
national health system short of qualified medical personnel and
medicines.
Cuba’s health ministry said it has the “resources necessary
for the adequate attention to patients in all the health
institutions” during this cholera outbreak.
(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Kevin Gray and
Christopher Wilson)
