Update: Cholera outbreak spreads toward Haiti's capital

[Turborama]

Source: AP

ST. MARC, Haiti (AP) -- An outbreak of cholera has spread beyond a rural area in central Haiti. That's increasing fears that the disease could reach the refugee camps in the capital where hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors are living.

Nearly 200 deaths have been confirmed and more than 2,000 people have fallen ill in Haiti's worst health crisis since the January quake.

So far almost all the cases have been in a desolate valley in central Haiti. The first two cases outside that area were confirmed yesterday in a town closer to the capital, Port-au-Prince. Experts are also investigating possible cases in a suburb of the capital.

Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to death within hours. Cholera wasn't present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts have warned since then that conditions are ripe for disease.

Read more: http://www.weartv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/3215fb12-weartv.com.shtml

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Al Jazeera English report on this with a lot more details and a video report (contains distressing images & footage): http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/201010238172616899.html

Original article which described the beginning of the outbreak: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4583830

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[COLGATE4]

2. Cholera is a really REALLY nasty disease. I was in the Cholera

ward of a hospital in India some years ago. The beds have holes in the middle, and a bucket underneath. I leave the rest to your imagination. People die of dehydration (among many other things). Nastier than hell. I can't believe we're not taking some aggressive action to stem this before it goes epidemic.