Haiti Cholera Death Toll Climbs

Haiti’s health ministry says 583 people have now died in a cholera outbreak, while the disease’s first fatality in Port-au-Prince has been confirmed.

The general director of the Ministry of Health, Gabriel Timothe, told reporters Tuesday that officials are also testing a suspected cholera case from the sprawling tent cities in Port-au-Prince. He described the outbreak as a problem of national security.

The death in the capital was confirmed in a Port-au-Prince hospital.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says the U.S. is continuing to work with Haiti to control the outbreak. He says Haiti has launched an aggressive response, and he notes that the mortality rate has fallen significantly compared to the number of cases reported.

The health ministry says more than 9,000 people have been hospitalized with cholera since the outbreak began late last month.

Authorities have feared the disease would spread into the capital, where hundreds of thousands of people have been living in tent cities since January’s earthquake. Residents in the crowded, squalid camps are especially vulnerable to cholera, which is caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water.

The outbreak was first reported in the Artibonite region north of the capital, and the disease has spread to half of the Caribbean nation’s 10 administrative regions.

Aid workers expressed concerns that the cholera epidemic could spread after floods from Hurricane Tomas, which struck last week. Cholera causes diarrhea and vomiting, and can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death.

Some information in this story was provided by AFP.