A Belgian female tourist and a Japanese person have contracted cholera in Vietnam, which has hit 202 people in the country, local newspaper Pioneer reported Monday.

Specimens from the 36-year-old tourist, who vomited many times and had diarrhea after traveling from southern Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi capital, was initially tested positive to cholera virus. She is now being treated at the Hanoi-based Tropical Disease Hospital.

Some foreign tourists in the same group with her have shown similar but less serious symptoms. They, after flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, have traveled to northern Quang Ninh province.

The Japanese person, who earlier ate tofu and raw shrimp paste and drank beer in a street-side restaurant in Vietnam, was initially reported to have contracted cholera virus. The person's health is recovering.

Now, specimens from the two foreigners are being thoroughly tested for cholera virus at the country's National Epidemiology and Hygiene Institute.

Acute diarrhea have infected over 1,600 people in 13 cities and provinces in Vietnam, of whom 202 have contracted cholera viruses since Oct. 23, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Medicine Department under the Vietnamese Health Ministry.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the ministry to lead a multi-sector taskforce to monitor food hygiene and control the disease, especially in flood-hit areas.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2007)