SANTO DOMINGO — The Dominican Republic said Monday a cholera outbreak that spread from neighboring Haiti was "under control," despite the country's first recorded death from the disease.
The outbreak continues to rage in Haiti, where it has killed nearly 4,000 people and infected some 200,000, but the Dominican Republic's health ministry said its number of new cases has slowed in recent weeks.
It said the total number of infections has risen from 152 to 238 since early January, compared to an average of 30 new cases a week in December.
The epidemic, which first erupted in a central Haitian river valley in mid-October, has been largely confined to the earthquake-ravaged country, though one case has been recorded in the US state of Florida, home to a significant Haitian population in its southern region.
The Dominican Republic on Sunday reported its first death from the disease, saying the victim had been in Haiti recently.
The ministry said the 53-year-old victim had not seen a doctor, despite suffering from vomiting and diarrhea for several days.
Authorities have meanwhile stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, including sharply limiting commerce and travel to and from Haiti and carefully monitoring affected areas.
The two countries share the island of Hispaniola, but the far wealthier Dominican Republic was spared by the catastrophic earthquake that rocked Haiti a year ago, killing some 220,000 people.
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