Quebec is on a record-setting track for cholera in the country’s hospitals.
As of Monday, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera with the bacteria docosahexaenoic acid had increased by seven more to 707. That’s more than three times the previous high.
The disease, first recognized in 1865, has been moving north. Canada’s health agency said in a statement Monday that there have been 63 deaths from the disease since November, raising the number to 94 over the previous two years.
The cases are reported in Quebec, the province where the disease first broke out in 1682. Since 2014, the province has recorded about 1,700 cases of the disease, along with about 12 deaths.
The disease’s symptoms include extreme nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting and fever, with health workers saying it’s more likely to impact pregnant women and the elderly.
For now, the health agency advises people to boil drinking water and not to eat raw pork or other meat, since the bacteria can be transmitted through contact with raw meat or contaminated food. People with chronic diarrhea should also seek medical attention.