Cholera Prompts Dominican Republic to Burn Uncertified Food From Haiti

By ,

Published December 11, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI - FEBRUARY 18: Children light fires to burn the coatings off of wires they have scavenged from destroyed buildings in order to sell the exposed metal, February 18, 2011 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Children all across Haiti work daily to earn what little income they can manage. (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images) (2011 Getty Images)

The Dominican Republic says any fresh meat and seafood from Haiti not stamped with a certificate claiming it’s free of cholera will be burned.

Health Minister Bautista Rojas says the measure is intended to prevent cholera from spreading through the informal trading network between the two neighboring countries.

Rojas said Monday the military has been authorized to seize and destroy uncertified raw animal products.

Dominican authorities blame lobster from Haiti for sickening dozens of people at a lavish Casa de Campo wedding last month. Guests had flown in from Venezuela, Boston, New York and Madrid for the wedding, attended by about 500 people.

The Dominican Republic says three people have died and 400 sickened from cholera, a water-borne disease, since October. In Haiti, cholera has killed more than 4,500 people and sickened 234,000.