Foreigners' diarrhoea cases may be cholera
Source: 16-NOV-2007 Intellasia | Thanh Nien | Tien Phong
Nov 16, 2007 - 7:00:00 AM A Japanese and a Belgium under treatment in Hanoi for acute diarrhoea may have cholera, local media reported Monday. The two patients have tested positive for the bacteria that causes cholera.

A health worker tests for cholera bacterium at a laboratory in Vietnam's northern Hai Phong city, 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Hanoi, November 14, 2007. Vietnam has been able to contain the acute diarrhoea epidemic, with only 52 new cases detected on Tuesday, taking the total infections to 1,713 in 14 provinces and cities. Of those, 226 had cholera, the health ministry said via a local newspaper. REUTERS/Stringer (VIETNAM)

Samples from the two patients are undergoing further testing at the Vietnam National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

The Japanese man, 41, suffered from acute diarrhoea after eating tofu and shrimp paste at a roadside eatery.

The Belgium woman, 36, had gotten sick on a flight from HCM City to Hanoi.

Doctors from National Tropical Contagious Disease Institute thought that she suffered from diarrhoea due to food she ate at restaurants in HCM City.

Other foreigners who ate at the same restaurants as her (as part of a tour group) had some mild symptoms of diarrhoea, but their cases were not serious.

An epidemic of acute diarrhoea emerged in northern Vietnam around October 23.

Around 1,600 cases have been linked to the epidemic, including 202 instances of cholera.