Worries are growing about how widespread the cholera outbreak affecting Cuba is, with news that at least 85 people have become ill and reports that the disease has spread to several parts of the country.

With Cuban officials offering few details on the situation, there are fears that the communist Cuban government may be downplaying the scope of the outbreak, which is officially the first that Cuba has seen in decades.

While some are worried about how the outbreak might affect tourists, for now, neither the Public Health Agency of Canada nor the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have issued warnings to travellers.

On Tuesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it was looking into the outbreak as a potential threat to European travellers. It said it was working in collaboration with the World Health Organization to assess the situation and would publish a rapid risk assessment on the ECDC website shortly.

Cholera is a bacterial infection that causes vomiting and severe diarrhea and can kill through dehydration; in some cases, that can happen within just one day. If caught early, cholera is easily treated but it can continue to spread through a community through contaminated water and food.

Cuban authorities say the outbreak has been confined to Manzanillo, a city in the southern province of Granma, and that the number of confirmed cases stands at 85.

Much of Manzanillo's outyling neighbourhoods have no water system and thousands of homes rely on wells and latrines, which flooded in June due to heavy rainfall.

Cuba's Health Ministry says it’s sealing off tainted water supplies and insists the outbreak is under control, despite no travel quarantine on the city.

While the Cuban government says the disease is confined, several reports say cases have also been diagnosed in the capital of Havana, on the other end of the island.

The BBC reported over the weekend it had confirmed at least one case in Havana, without naming its sources. The Miami Herald quoted an apparent dissident who lives in Granma who said 15 people have died and more than 1,000 people had been sickened.

Cuban officials have not commented on those reports.

Granma province epidemiologist Ana Maria Batista has made three appearances on provincial television to update the situation, but the Miami Herald says that Cuba’s state-run newspapers, national TV and radio chains have not published anything on the outbreak.

A public health official spoke to Reuters on Tuesday on condition of anonymity and said that reports that 15 people had died were not true. She said that along with the three confirmed deaths there were two suspected ones, all in the Manzanillo area.

She also said the outbreak had been mostly contained to Granma, with just a few scattered cases confirmed elsewhere in the country.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says most travellers are at low risk of cholera, even in countries where outbreaks occur, as long as basic water and food precautions are followed.

That means eating only food that has been well cooked and avoiding uncooked fish and seafood. It also means avoiding salads and food from street vendors.

As well, drink and use ice only from purified water that has been boiled or disinfected, or stick with commercially bottled water in sealed containers.