Florida officials concerned about cholera

PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Florida health department officials have asked doctors to be on the lookout for cases of cholera, which could be carried in by visitors from Haiti.

Florida has more than 240,000 Haitian-born residents, and since last January's earthquake, travel between Florida and Haiti has increased, The Palm Beach Post reported.

Haiti is dealing with the dual calamities of Tropical Storm Tomas, and cholera, a water-borne disease, which is now turning up among its residents, and is still recovering from the devastating earthquake earlier this year.

"We can expect that some travelers returning from Haiti may become symptomatic with cholera en route to, or shortly after arrival in Florida," a health department letter said.

The Florida Department of Health asked doctors to phone in reports of watery diarrhea in people with recent Haiti travel, and to collect swabs and send them to a state laboratory in Miami, Jacksonville or Tampa.

"This (tropical) storm could not have come at a more difficult time. Although we have made some extensive preparations and prepositioned stocks across the country, some crucial supplies have been badly depleted by ongoing needs, particularly the response to the ongoing cholera epidemic", said Nigel Fisher, a United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.

Symptoms of cholera are severe diarrhea and vomiting; it can take from five hours to five days before symptoms develop.