SANTO DOMINGO, Nov 19 (Reuters ) - An outbreak of the waterborne disease leptospirosis has killed at least 25 people in the Dominican Republic and sickened nearly 200, the Caribbean nation's health minister said.

Bautista Rojas Gomez confirmed the toll to reporters late on Sunday after talks with President Leonel Fernandez on ways to fight the disease, which spreads through exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected rats and other animals.

The outbreak, linked to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Noel last month, was initially limited to a region along the banks of the Ozama River north and east of the capital.

But Rojas Gomez said cases had now been confirmed as far away as the Barahona beach resort on the southern coast.

In addition to the 25 deaths, Rojas Gomez said 193 people had fallen ill with the disease. (Reporting by Manuel Jimenez; Editing by Tom Brown and John O'Callaghan)

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