Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Geneva (dpa) - At least 150 people have died
in a suspected cholera outbreak north of the Haitian capital Port-au-
Prince, United Nations officials in Geneva said Friday.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health
authorities in Haiti reported that 1,526 people had fallen ill in the
Lower Artibonte region. Symptoms included acute diarrhea and
vomiting.
"Cholera has been confirmed by rapid tests," WHO spokeswoman
Aphluck Bhatiasevi said. "We are awaiting laboratory tests for
further confirmation."
The WHO is sending specialists to Haiti, she said by telephone
from Geneva.
If confirmed, this would be the first outbreak of cholera in years
in Haiti, according to Bhatiasevi. The impoverished Caribbean country
was devastated by an earthquake in January.
Cholera is a bacterial infection affecting the intestines. It is
triggered by bacteria transmitted through dirty water or contaminated
food and causes diarrhea and vomiting, which leads to severe
dehydration and can kill quickly.
"What is required for immediate treatment of patients with cholera
is re-hydration. If treatment is provided early, and treatment is
simple, many lives can be saved," Bhatiasevi said.
A health and sanitation aid worker in Haiti told the German Press
Agency dpa that outbreak appears to have occurred in a relatively
affluent area, raising concerns for other areas with weaker
sanitation systems.
"There is worry that this will hit the capital Port-au-Prince,"
said an aid worker, who was not authorized to comment on the outbreak
until it was confirmed.
It remained unclear how cholera could have spread in Haiti, which
is being closely monitored by major international organisations,
since the earthquake that claimed more than 220,000 lives and left
1.5 million homeless.
"This is a situation that's developed very quickly," Imogen
Wall, a UN humanitarian spokeswoman in Haiti told broadcaster CNN.
Other aid agencies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors
Without Borders, MSF) said they were working to deploy additional
personnel and resources to the affected areas of Haiti in light of
what increasingly appeared to be a need for rapid medical
intervention.
Copyright 2010 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH