HAVANA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cuban authorities Tuesday declared an end of a cholera outbreak that had claimed three lives and sickened another 417 people.

"More than 10 days have passed since the last confirmed case, therefore the Public Health Ministry (Minsap) considers the outbreak has ended," the ministry said in a statement.

Minsap stressed the importance of early and decisive actions in stemming the spread of the epidemic, saying "since the first case appeared, the institutions of the national health system have taken necessary steps, with the goal of detecting all probable infected cases and preventing the spread of the outbreak."

Health officials traced the outbreak to the eastern city of Manzanillo, one of the urban centers in Cuba that are closest to Haiti, where over 1,000 Cuban healthcare workers have been fighting a cholera outbreak, as well as other diseases.

Isolated cases detected in the Cuban provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba, and the cities of Guantanamo and Havana turned out to involve people who had travelled in Manzanillo, said the ministry.

In addition, the outbreak occurred during the summer, when heavy rains and high temperatures typically increase the risk of water contamination, Minsap said.

Health authorities said clinical epidemiological surveillance throughout the country would continue to prevent the recurrence of new cases during the remaining summer months.

Cuba believed it had eradicated cholera until officials announced July 3 they had detected 50 cases of cholera, including three deaths in Granma. Before that, the last known person to be infected with cholera in Cuba died of the disease in 1882.

Cholera can be deadly if left untreated, with severe diarrhea, vomiting and nausea leading to acute dehydration. Enditem

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