MONTREAL, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman who visited Haiti late last year came home with cholera, but has been treated successfully, Quebec health officials reported.
The unidentified woman showed up at Sainte Justine Hospital Jan. 1 with severe diarrhea and told doctors she had recently been to Haiti, The (Montreal) Gazette reported Wednesday.
Since October, at least 4,000 people in Haiti have died from the disease, which is transmitted by tainted food or water. More than 200,000 others became sick with the infection.
The woman was put in isolation and treated for dehydration and given antibiotics, doctors said. Four days later, tests came back positive for cholera, the report said.
Stephanie Menard, a spokeswoman for the provincial public health agency said the woman was eventually released and posed no risk to anyone else.
"Unlike gastroenteritis or the flu, which can be spread through particles in the air, cholera is transmitted though tainted water or food," Menard said. "In a hygienic place like Quebec or Canada, transmission is unlikely".
The federal Public Health Agency of Canada says there have been 27 confirmed cases of cholera in the country since 1986. UPI
