Colombia has increased security measures at the Venezuela border after health authorities in the neighboring country announced 37 people have been treated for cholera.
According to deputy Health Minister Beatriz Londoño, the cholera cases in Colombia’s eastern neighbor require preventive measures in hospitals and at border checkpoints.
“I call on all health centers in the country to meet the guidelines of the ministry and intensify surveillance, to adequately inform the people about preventive measures and to immediately report any suspicious case,” the official was quoted as saying by RCN Radio.
Venezuelan health authorities on Thursday announced that 37 Venezuelan nationals had caught cholera after attending a family celebration in the Dominican Republic last week. The Caribbean nation shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti where 4,000 people have died of cholera since the outbreak of the illness in October.
