Cholera outbreak spreads in Haiti

It appears to be confirmed that the actual cause of the severe sickness in Haiti is Cholera. The Miami Herald reported on October 22 that Haitian health officials are blaming the deaths of more than 100 people suffering from acute severe diarrhea and dehydration on the dread illness.

The cholera outbreak, with 253 deaths and more than 3,000 confirmed cases counted as of noon Monday, has so far been contained to the region around the epicenter — the central rural areas around the Artibonite River. read more

About 60 miles north of the capital, scores of children and adults are doubled over in a hospital courtyard, stretched out on benches or cots, racked by convulsive stomach disorder or limp with dehydration. They have buckets by their sides and intravenous solutions dripping into their arms. 

 

According to the New York Times,

"the Haitian government reported optimistically on Sunday that the epidemic might be stabilizing. Fatalities have declined — from 10.6 percent of known cases three days earlier to 8.2 percent now. But health experts cautioned that the danger remained high. Daniel Epstein, a spokesman for the Pan American Health Organization, said Monday that in 75 percent of cholera cases, the carriers are asymptomatic. That would mean that the number of people who have the microbe — and could spread it — may be closer to 12,000"

Although all are concerned about the crowded, unhygienic living conditions in the tent and tarp camps sheltering some 1.3 million displaced people, the slums are a potentially bigger problem as they do not have even the portable, cleanable latrines that many camps do.

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Making this situation so much more intolerable is the fact that, considering all of the money and resources standing by for building housing and clean infrastructure, this outbreak was avoidable.

As far as hiring for construction work in Haiti, it is doubtful that U.S. citizens will be allowed to enter the country unless they are already working there and, in any case, companies would be hesitant to bring workers into the country until the cholera is contained. We will keep you posted.

Mike