The Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday, 17 June 2015 that three of the 33 inmates in La Vega jail who were suffering from diarrhea, have tested positive for cholera. According to El Nuevo Diario and other newspapers, as measures to control any outbreak, the Provincial Health Directorate, the regional services and the Directorate General of Environmental Health at the ministry have tested the water quality and the food that is consumed by the inmates and guards of the prison.
Jose Manuel Puello Montero of the Collective Health Department said that on Sunday afternoon, 14 June 2015 14 inmates began to show symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain and were treated at the prison’s Primary Care Unit. According to a press release by the institution, several patients were immediately referred to the Luis Morillo King Public Hospital in La Vega, where one was suffering from severe dehydration and died five hours later. By Wednesday afternoon eight patients were reported to be in stable condition at the Morillo King Public Hospital.
Puello added that epidemiological teams from La Vega provided guidance on personal hygiene and on handling water and food, and distributed educational material as well as applying chlorine to all the water tanks. Today, Thursday 18 June 2015, the Ministry will carry out a general cleanup of the area in coordination with prison authorities.