Health Officials fear a cholera epidemic from rural Haiti (Oct. 22, 2010)

By Joseph Guyler Delva (journalist-investigator)
PORT-AU-PRINCE
Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:26pm EDT
(Reuters) - Quake-hit Haiti and its aid partners fought on Friday to stem a cholera epidemic that has killed over 150 people and sickened hundreds, with experts saying more cases could be expected before it was contained.  Although the main outbreak area was north of Port-au-Prince, which bore the brunt of the January 12 earthquake, humanitarian agencies were on high alert to prevent the disease from spreading to crowded survivors' camps in the capital.
The cholera epidemic, which had already affected more than 1,500 people in central Haiti, was the worst medical emergency to strike the poor, disaster-prone Caribbean nation since the devastating earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people.  It was also the first cholera epidemic in Haiti in a century, the World Health Organization said. But no cases had been reported in Haiti's rubble-strewn capital, where 1.3 million quake homeless are living in tent cities.  Health teams were closely monitoring the survivor camps and oral rehydration liquids were being prepared for quick use.
The Pan American Health Organization, the regional office for the WHO, said it had deployed medical teams, medicines and clean water to the outbreak zone around Saint-Marc in the central Artibonite region, and to the Central Plateau to deal with more cases of the virulent diarrheal disease. If left untreated, it can kill victims in hours through dehydration. "We expect it to get bigger, we have to expect that," PAHO Deputy Director Jon Andrus told a briefing in Washington.  He added the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, should be alert to the risk of cholera spreading across the border.
"So far, we have more than 1,500 cases and the number is increasing, and more than 150 deaths that we have confirmed," Dr. Carleene Dei, Haiti mission director for the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in a teleconference.
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