A choleric Ros-Lehtinen

By Alejandro Armengol

From his blog Cuaderno de Cuba (Cuban Notebook)

It was an opportunity that the Cuban-American legislators – gripped by an obsession when it comes to travel to Cuba – could not pass up.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, the Miami office of Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a statement saying that the Government of Cuba refuses to admit that cholera “is spreading” through the island to avoid scaring away the tourists and losing the hard currency that they bring to the country.

The Government is not reporting on “the gravity of the situation,” Ros-Lehtinen said in her statement, in which she warned those who are thinking about visiting Cuba that “the dictatorship is not being honest about the gravity of the situation” and, if they travel there, they could be “at risk of contracting cholera.”

While it is true that the Havana regime is not providing all the necessary information about cholera, once more the Congresswoman is appealing to the old tactic of instilling fear to achieve what she hasn’t by other means: to prevent Cubans and Cuban-Americans living in the United States from traveling to Cuba.

Also, as on other occasions, the argument wielded by the representative is exaggerated.
Cholera is a disease caused by bacteria. The infection is generally benign but sometimes can be serious. Approximately one out of every 20 people infected can fall seriously ill.

A person may acquire cholera through drinking liquids or eating foods contaminated with cholera bacteria. During an epidemic, the sources of contamination are usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread quickly in areas where drinking water and waste water are not treated adequately. Cholera bacteria can also exist in clean-water streams and coastal waters.

The direct transmission of cholera – from one person to another – is uncommon, therefore, casual contact with an infected person does not constitute a risk for contracting the disease.

So, while cholera is a risk factor to be considered when traveling to a country where it exists, a traveler can remain safe by taking a series of basic measures.

Traveling to a country where there is cholera does not imply a deadly danger. Last year, I was in Haiti, where cholera broke out as a result of the January 2010 earthquake, and I needed only a minimum of precautions to avoid contagion, such as drinking only bottled water.

Most probably, however, this information will not stop the Cuban-American legislators’ attempts to sow panic, particularly in Miami.

In this sense, the statement from Ros-Lehtinen’s office could be only an opening salvo.

To read the original, in Spanish, go to: http://armengol.blogspot.com/2012/07/ros-lehtinen-colerica.html