A diarrheal and vomiting outbreak in a train bound for Havana on Thursday to make an emergency stop at Villa Clara.
The incident occurred on the train that covered the route between Manzanillo and the Cuban capital, in which several passengers expressed “signs and symptoms of a diarrheal outbreak,” according to Press reports.
The emergency stop had to be held in the town of Jicotea, of the Villaclareño municipality of Ranchuelo, where attention was given to all passengers and referred to the sick to hospital institutions of the province.
The cause of the diarrheal outbreak was an food poisoning that “resulted in an emétic syndrome with mild isotonic dehydration in most cases” and whose causes are investigated, According to what is informed By Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, Cuban Transport Minister.
In total, five minors and 20 adult passengers were hospitalized, although the number of poisoned was slightly higher and included three crew members, according to the figures published by the minister.
In addition, all the people traveling on the train (653) were investigated “to identify possible cases and apply the necessary epidemiological control measures,” said the official.
Favorable evolution
After hospitalization, the patients evolved favorably, without complications or cases of gravity.
Dr. Juan Ramón Jorge Fernández, Deputy Director of Medical Emergency of the Arnaldo Milián Castro Provincial Hospital, of Santa Clara assured that the epidemiological situation was already controlled.
“The clinical picture presented by all patients is consistent with food poisoning of favorable evolution,” said the specialist, who confirmed that “no serious or critical cases are reported” and that the prognosis for patients “is highly favorable.”
According to the health manager, he is expected to receive the medical discharge “in the next 24-48 hours, once the rehydration has been completed and their clinical stability confirmed.”
For his part, Rodríguez Dávila said that these patients will be transferred by buses until their destination “to the extent that they are discharged.”
The rest of the passengers and the crew continued trip after receiving the approval of the health specialists, while coordinating with the health authorities and institutions of Matanzas and Havana “to attend to any other case that may arise.”
