Cholera found in Haitian capital

2010-10-24 211


Five cases of Cholera have been detected in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the UN says, amid an outbreak that has killed more than 200 people.


UN spokeswoman Imogen Wall told the Reuters that the cases had been quickly diagnosed and isolated.


She said they had been infected in the main outbreak zone - the Artibonite region - and had subsequently travelled to the capital, where they fell ill.


This meant Port-au-Prince was "not a new location of infection", she noted.


Earlier, Ms Wall said the prospect of cholera in the city, where more than a million survivors of January's earthquake are living in tents, was "awful".


Health officials said at least 208 people had died and 2,674 others were infected in an outbreak mostly centered in the Artibonite region north of the capital.


Cholera causes diarrhoea and vomiting leading to severe dehydration, and can kill quickly if left untreated though rehydration and antibiotics.

Free Traffic Exchange