All 47 people struck down during a cholera epidemic last month have fully recovered, a senior official said on Monday in Yuxi city.

The outbreak in Tonghai, Huaning and Jiangchuan counties on Jan 18 led to 20 confirmed cases of cholera, with 27 people also found to be carrying the cholera virus, Chen Juemin, director of the provincial health department, said at a press conference in Yuxi.

"No deaths were reported," he said, adding that the epidemic had now been brought under control.

Chen said all 47 patients had been among 585 villagers who attended a funeral feast in Tonghai from Jan 15 to 17.

Around 3 am on Jan 18, the first patient, surnamed Li, 73, was admitted to a local hospital suffering diarrhea, and was followed by another two later that day, the director said.

On the morning of Jan 21, the Yuxi center for disease control initially diagnosed vibrio cholera O139 type, confirming the infection the following day, he said.

After the reported outbreak, all 585 who attended the feast, along with those who had come into immediate contact with them, were isolated.

Local police also closed infected areas, while the local health department checked the health of 8,561 villagers, the government said.

Investigators found that 26 of the 585 people at the feast had traveled abroad and visited high-risk cholera areas last November, with one of those identified as carrying the disease having done the cooking for the feast.

The local health authorities believe the virus was brought to China by those tourists.

Gao Jinsong, mayor of Yuxi, appealed for calm during the press conference and urged residents to pay close attention to food safety.

Lu Lin, director of the local center of disease control, also warned villagers to avoid crowded places and drink only clean water.

Cholera is a severe intestinal infection that has a short incubation period, Lu said, adding that if not treated immediately it can kill.

In October last year, an 8-year-old girl died of cholera during an outbreak in Hainan province, where 46 cases were reported.

(China Daily February 4, 2009)