Arthur Brice and Mariano Castillo's article, "Cholera Strikes Fear in Dominican Republic, Tourists Reassured," from CNN on November 17, 2010, talks about how cholera has spread to the Dominican Republic. The first identified case if from Wilmo Louwes who brought cholera to the Dominican after returning from a trip to Haiti. Tourism is key to the Dominican Republic and the nation hosts a multitude of tourists throughout the year. Even though there have been cholera cases in the country, it is still okay for tourists to travel there. Dr. Eugene Gangarosa, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta stated, "Generally speaking, tourists are more aware of personal hygiene and sanitation and the importance of avoiding contaminated water. Tourists are not generally affected by cholera in the countries they visit." Additionally, health in the Dominican Republic is being closely watched, and if tourists stopped travelling to the country it would not provide any benefits for the country that relies so heavily on tourism. The media has made the case aware and Dominicans have been warned to wash their hands often and only ingest home cooked meals and be particularly wary of street vendors. The article can be found at: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-17/travel/dominican.republic.cholera.sidebar_1_dominican-republic-cholera-outbreak-cholera-case?_s=PM:TRAVELI think the most eye-opening part of the article was that the Dominican Republic is prepared for only a set limit of cholera cases and after they reach so many they will not be able to provide care for all those infected. It really shows the importance of clean water and how preventable cholera is if only there was clean water all around the world. We talked about cholera in Haiti in class and the article mentioned the Haitian outbreak and how cholera came to the Dominican from Haiti. Cholera cases are easily treated and equally preventable if only there was more clean water in the places that really need it. This article was interesting with its mention of tourism and how important it is to the Dominican and without tourists the country would be in a terrible position. It is quite reassuring to tourists; it is quite unlikely that a tourist will get cholera so long as they are careful and make sure they know what they eat and drink.
Alex, I enjoyed reading your post. It just seems like Cholera is everywhere. Because of the close proximity of Haiti to the Dominican Republic, it doesn't surprise me that Cholera has spread to the DR. I really liked the point you made about how the DR relies so heavily on tourism. What you said here "if tourists stopped travelling to the country it would not provide any benefits for the country that relies so heavily on tourism" was a great point. If tourists are careful in what water and food they drink they will be okay. If tourists stop traveling to the DR, it may cause Cholera to stick around longer because of the cycle of poverty there. It is really important for the Dominican Republic to maintain a strong economy so they can prevent diseases like Cholera from happening at all.
ReplyDeleteAlex, this was very interesting to read. It is awful to know that Cholera is spreading to other countries who do not have what they need in order to help cure people. However, it is good that there is an article like this that is helping to raise awareness. It is also good to know that because of tourists, the country is still able to make money and survive. Hopefully tourists will continue to visit the Dominican Republic, so that way they will continue to get the money that they need.
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