The Ministry of Health has urged 20 provinces and cities in southern Vietnam to take strict measures to prevent and combat cholera amid fears of the disease spread from Cambodian border provinces. The MoH made its request at a conference on cholera prevention held in Ho Chi Minh City, the Tien Phong newspaper reported last week. Cholera has broken out and kept spreading in some Cambodia border provinces, the Ho Chi Minh City’s Pasteur Institute said, warning that many travel across border gates of Long An, An Giang, Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh, and the epidemic is likely to spread. The Vietnamese health workers will coordinate with Cambodian health sector to prevent the disease from spreading to Vietnam’s southern provinces. The water sample taken from the upstream Tac Truc river in Cambodia was tested positive to the cholera virus, vice head of An Giang province’s health department Phan Van Dien Phuong said. Ho Chi Minh City’s health department has recorded seven cholera patients since the beginning of the year. The cholera has been detected in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong and An Giang provinces with more than ten cases reported since early this year.
