It’s likely both numbers could be higher because they don’t reflect other suspected but unconfirmed cases in remote areas.
Utuado resident Wilfredo Cosme de Jesus and his wife Maria Rodriguez Rivera wash their clothes on the side of the highway in Utuado.
Two weeks after the hurricane, Gambo Rodríguez’s stepfather started vomiting and came down with a fever.
David Santiago dsantiago@miamiherald.com But a week after he was released from the hospital, Cosme de Jesús was bathing and helping his wife wash clothes on the side of the road.
Andrea Chaves Arana, a water, hygiene and sanitation expert working for Oxfam, pictured outside the local emergency operations center in Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Chaves Arana was assessing the need for water filtration systems in the surrounding area.
But even those with running water are struggling to boil it, Chaves Arana said.
There’s also no definitive testing for leptospirosis available in Puerto Rico; in order to confirm cases, samples have to be sent to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory in Atlanta.
David Santiago dsantiago@miamiherald.com Most patients don’t develop the more serious symptoms associated with the disease, Deseda said, but because leptospirosis can cause kidney or liver failure in some people, public health officials are advising doctors to immediately treat any suspected cases.
They were hoping to work with the CDC to confirm suspected cases in the future, but hadn’t yet been able to do so.