THE Ministry of Health warned of a potential cholera outbreak on Sunday after a cluster of infections, including one fatality, were reported in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district.

Health officials have been tracking a rash of cholera infections across the country over the past 45 days, said Dr Sok Touch, director of the Communicable Disesase Control Department at the Ministry of Health.

“I suggest that health officials in every province take urgent action to prevent peoples’ exposure to contaminated water,” he said.

“Anyone experiencing severe diarrhoea and vomiting should immediately go to the hospital or the nearest source of medical care because this disease can spread easily and is potentially fatal.”

On January 5, Toch Kamsat, 28, a garment worker from Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district, died 12 hours after she was hospitalised for diarrhoea and vomiting.

“The woman’s fatal infection came from contaminated food or water she consumed outside of the workplace,” said Pok Vanthat, deputy director of the Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Labour.

As a precaution, however, Pok Vanthat said that doctors would be sent to factories across the country to provide health checkups for garment workers.