Haiti cholera linked to UN troops (More than 2,000 people have been killed in the epidemic so far)

[Turborama]

Source: Al Jazeera English

A new report by French disease expert ties UN troops to the cholera outbreak, contradicting repeated denials by the UN.
Last Modified: Dec 07 2010 20:10 GMT

There is strong evidence linking UN peacekeepers to a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed thousands of people, according to a French disease expert.

Renaud Piarroux says in a report made public on Tuesday that the most likely explanation for the outbreak is that Haiti's Artibonite River was contaminated by a base of UN troops from Nepal.

The epidemiologist conducted his research on behalf of the French and Haitian governments.

Cholera was detected in Haiti late October. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the epidemic and nearly 100,000 people have been infected so far.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/2010127193223772271.html

[defendandprotect]

1. This is exactly what the Haitians said -- and it was very nastily denied ....

[Turborama]

2. Yes, and now they're rioting about the election

It seems that daily things keep getting from unbelievably bad to worse for them...

Violence in Haiti poll protests

Angry supporters of candidates excluded from presidential runoff torched the ruling party's headquarters.
Last Modified: Dec 08 2010 17:07 GMT



Protesters in Haiti, angry at the results of the recent elections, have set fire to the main offices of the ruling party and manned barricades in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The demonstrators took to the streets on Wednesday after officials had announced that Jude Celestin, representing the ruling party, will stand in the upcoming presidential runoff vote.

Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a popular singer, had trailed Celestin by about 6,800 votes - less than one per cent, according to the preliminary results released by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council.

Martelly supporters set up barricades near the Petionville restaurant where the tallies were announced and threw rocks at people passing nearby. Gunshots were also heard.

"If they don't give us Martelly and (Mirlande) Manigat (in the second round), Haiti will be on fire," Erick Jean, a protester, said. "We're still living under tents and Celestin wastes money on election posters.''

More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/2010128154014916751.html

[defendandprotect]

3. The last time Haiti was able to make any sense was under Aristide ....

"A rich chuch, a poor people" --

And then Clinton finally sold him out to the right wing attacks --

Even if it had the will, the Democratic Party hasn't had any power to control

any issue since the coup on JFK and our people's government --

[Judi Lynn]

4. Cholera Strain in Haiti Matches Bacteria from South Asia

Cholera Strain in Haiti Matches Bacteria from South Asia

ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2010) — A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, with others from the United States and Haiti, has determined that the strain of cholera erupting in Haiti matches bacterial samples from South Asia and not those from Latin America. The scientists conclude that the cholera bacterial strain introduced into Haiti probably came from an infected human, contaminated food or other item from outside of Latin America. It is highly unlikely, they say, that the outbreak was triggered by ocean currents or other climate-related events.

This apparent human origin offers some good news: control measures such as rapid screening for cholera infection and vaccination might limit the risk of cholera epidemics in the future if coordinated on a global level.

These findings, which appeared online December 9 in the New England Journal of Medicine, were reported by Matthew Waldor, a Howard Hughes investigator and the Edward H. Kass Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Brigham and Women's; John Mekalanos, the chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at HMS; Stephen Calderwood, the Morton N. Swartz, Academy Professor of Medicine (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) at HMS and Mass General; and colleagues at Pacific Biosciences in Menlo Park, California, and the Fondation pour le Développement des Universités et de la Recherche en Haiti in Port-au-Prince.

"Our data strongly suggest that the Haitian epidemic began with the introduction into Haiti of a cholera strain from a distant geographic source by human activity," Waldor says. "Some scientists believe that the strain arose from the local aquatic environment, but this hypothesis is not supported by our analysis, which clearly distinguishes the Haitian strains from those circulating in Latin America and the U.S. Gulf Coast."

More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101209185554.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29