Haitian cholera deaths surpass 3,300

Dec 31, 2010, 2:38 GMT

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The death toll in Haiti's cholera outbreak has risen to 3,300, with nearly 149,000 people infected in the 10 weeks since the epidemic began, the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Altogether, 148,787 cases of the disease have been registered across Haiti through December 26, of which 83,166 required hospitalization, the most recent data show.

International health experts estimated that within the next 12 months, up to 400,000 people could contract the bacterial infection that causes diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration.

The figures were released the same day that some 30 Haitian writers demanded that President Rene Preval act against a series of attacks against people accused of spreading the disease.

In the past several days in south-western Haiti, more than 40 voodoo priests have been killed by mobs who accused them of being responsible for the cholera outbreak. Deadly protests also occurred last month against the UN mission in Haiti, whose peacekeepers the demonstrators blamed for bringing cholera to their country.

Tests conducted by epidemiologists and microbiologists in response to the riots failed to back up the accusation.

The first case of cholera in Haiti in 100 years emerged October 19 along the Artibonite River in the centre of the Caribbean country. Many Haitians often do not know what to do in case of an infection and seek medical help too late.

Experts said they believe the actual numbers of the sick and dead from the disease, which is primarily transmitted through contaminated water and food, is much higher than the official figures.

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