Health officials said that the victim had been in Haiti and lived in the Dominican city of Higuey, where the first case of cholera was registered in November.

A health ministry statement said Renauld Francois, 53, died on Thursday, and that an autopsy would be performed to learn the exact cause of death but that his symptoms were “consistent with the disease.”

The Dominican Republic has reported 152 cases of cholera since the outbreak in Haiti last year.

In Haiti, officials say 3,889 people have died since the discovery of the epidemic in mid-October through January 16, out of 194,000 infected.

The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.

The Dominican Republic’s government has said it will step up its prevention system around Higuey, a popular tourist destination in the far east of the country.

The country has tried to tighten border controls to stop the disease spreading from Haiti, but tens of thousands of Haitians regularly travel to the country for work.