Haiti's Cholera Reaches US

Florida sees first case, but officials say it's not a big threat

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 17, 2010 4:34 PM CST

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Florida Sees First Cholera Case From Haiti — A man with a rope attached to his foot lies dead in the street near a temporary hospital where cholera patients are being treated in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cholera has made its way to US shores, but health authorities in Florida say it's no cause for alarm, CNN reports. A woman who returned from a visit to Haiti fell ill with the disease, which has now killed 1,100 people there and spread to the neighboring Dominican Republic. The woman is recovering well, and no threat is seen in the US because the disease needs poor sanitation conditions to spread.

"This is not a major public health concern, but we're on top of it," says a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health. Click here for more.
(More Florida stories.)

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