TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A Florida woman infected with cholera during a trip to Haiti to visit relatives is recovering, health officials said Wednesday.
The state Health Department also said there is no risk she will infect others, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
"We don't anticipate we will see any transmission as a result of exposure in Haiti in Florida or anywhere else in the U.S. because our water and sanitation system minimizes the risk," Dr. Thomas Torok, a specialist in disease investigation with the state, said.
About 18,000 people have become sick and more than 1,000 have died since the cholera epidemic began in Haiti. The infected woman visited the Artibonite River region, where the first cases were reported.
Torok said Florida, with its large immigrant communities, is often affected by cholera outbreaks elsewhere. Between 1991 and 1993, 20 Florida residents were infected in South America but did not spread the disease within the state on their return home.
Cholera is spread by consumption of contaminated water or food.
