Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
Cholera could kill 10,000 in Haiti in the next year: expert
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Nov 17, 2010
The cholera epidemic in Haiti could kill 10,000 people and cause
200,000 infections in the coming year, a doctor with the Pan-American
Health Organization said on Wednesday.
"Our projections show that we could have around 200,000 cases of
infection in Haiti over the next six to twelve months," PAHO regional
advisor Ciro Ugarte told AFP.
"If the fatality rate (of four to five percent) is maintained... we may
have 10.000 dead," said Ugarte, describing this as "the worst case
scenario."
"The cholera epidemic cannot be stopped, especially in places where
there is a lack of safe water supply, basic sanitation," he said. "The
cholera could spread beyond Haiti, in the Dominican Republic and
beyond."
More than 1,100 Haitians have died since cholera was first detected in
the nation in mid-October. The number of people treated in hospitals
and clinics has soared to 18,382.
The PAHO, a regional office of the UN's World Health Organization, has
warned that cholera has taken hold and the troubled Caribbean nation
should now expect hundreds of thousands of case over the next few years.
Health officials fear the cholera epidemic could spread like wildfire
if it infiltrates Haiti's squalid refugee camps around the capital
where hundreds of thousands of earthquake refugees live in cramped and
unsanitary conditions.
The cholera outbreak -- the first in more than half a century in the
impoverished Caribbean nation -- is bringing new chaos to Haiti after
it was ravaged in a January quake that killed 250,000 people.
earlier related report
Haiti's Preval urges calm as cholera toll soars
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Nov 17, 2010 - Haitian President Rene Preval
pleaded for calm as the death toll from a cholera epidemic soared over
1,100 Wednesday and more desperately ill people sought treatment in
overcrowded hospitals.
"Disorder and instability have never brought solutions to a country
going through hard times," Preval said late Tuesday in a recorded
message, hitting out at those fanning discontent.
"Gunshots, throwing bottles, barricades of burning tires will not help
us eradicate cholera bacteria. On the contrary, it will prevent the
sick from receiving care and to deliver medicine where it is needed."
Health experts are scrambling to teach Haitians how to ward off cholera
as anger over the epidemic has erupted into violent street protests,
the head of the US Centers for Disease Control told AFP.
Less than two weeks before elections to choose Preval's successor,
political forces are being blamed for whipping up tensions in northern
Cap-Haitien where two Haitians died -- one shot by a UN peacekeeper --
in Monday riots.
Haiti's health ministry said Wednesday that 1,100 people had now died
since cholera was first detected in the nation in late October. The
number of people hospitalized also grew to a total of 18,382.
The disease has also surfaced for the first time in neighboring
Dominican Republic, with officials there are also appealing for
residents to stay calm.
Dominican Health Minister Rojas Gomez said Wednesday that one person,
who had crossed over the border from Haiti, had been treated for
vomiting and diarrhea. He had been isolated and was being treated in
hospital.
The Dominican Republic, a popular tourist destination, was in a
"pre-epidemic phase," Gomez added in an interview with local television.
In a bid to keep the disease at bay, Dominican authorities have banned
the Haitian traders from crossing the border to sell clothes and shoes
in a popular border market.
Health officials fear the cholera epidemic could spread like wildfire
if it infiltrates Haiti's squalid refugee camps around the capital
where hundreds of thousands of quake refugees live in cramped and
unsanitary conditions.
The cholera outbreak -- the first in half a century in the impoverished
Caribbean nation -- is bringing new chaos to Haiti ravaged in a January
quake, which killed 250,000 people and left 1.3 million homeless.
Thousands of protesters went on the rampage Monday in Cap-Haitien,
setting a police station ablaze and threatening to torch a UN compound
before being broken up by gunfire and tear gas.
The UN force, known as MINUSTAH, issued a statement linking the
protests to presidential elections and calling on Haitians not to allow
themselves to be manipulated by "the enemies of stability and
democracy."
Six members of MINUSTAH were injured in a second protest Monday in the
central city of Hinche in which some 400 angry demonstrators threw
stones before being dispersed.
There are claims the cholera outbreak emanated from septic tanks at a
nearby base for Nepalese peacekeepers where some believe infected feces
leaked into a tributary of the Artibonite River, used by locals for
drinking and bathing.
The desperate situation has left public health experts with little
option but to focus on the bottom line: trying to stop the rash of
fatalities from the bacteria-based disease that travels mainly through
contaminated water.
"We felt that the best strategy with this outbreak was to focus on
preventing death," said Jordan Tappero, who leads the CDC team on
cholera response in Haiti.
The CDC is rotating more than 350 staffers in and out of the country on
30-day assignments, as they try to train locals and health officials in
the fight against the fast-spreading disease.
Cholera "is a great hitchhiker. It travels by contaminated water, food
or an individual who may be asymptomatic or developing symptoms," said
Tappero.
He added because of that it was virtually impossible to pinpoint the
origins of the cholera outbreak in Haiti.
MINUSTAH has said it has tested some of the Nepalese and found no trace
of cholera, and health officials have said that although Haiti's
cholera is a south Asian strain this is no smoking gun as the strain is
very common.