Haiti Cholera Death Toll Passes 1,000

The death toll from Haiti’s cholera epidemic has passed 1,000.

Health officials made the announcement Tuesday, reporting an official figure of 1,034 deaths as of Sunday.

Authorities say more than 16,700 people have been hospitalized since the outbreak was first reported late last month.

Angry protesters have accused United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal of bringing the waterborne disease to their Caribbean nation. Violent protests erupted Monday, with at least two people killed in clashes between demonstrators and U.N. troops. The U.N. mission in Haitidismissedthe demonstrations as “politically motivated” ahead of the November 28 presidential and legislative elections.

The U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, Nigel Fisher, told reporters Monday that cholera has been detected in every Haitian province. He said Haiti never has had a cholera outbreak before, and that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified this strain as one that has its origins in South Asia. But he said it is nearly impossible to identify a precise source.

The United Nations is calling for $164 million from international donors to support the Haitian government in confronting the cholera epidemic.

Meanwhile, health officials in the Dominican Republic say they have detected the first case of cholera in the country which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Officials say the case was found in a Haitian man who is receiving treatment.

Dominican authorities have tightened border controls and stepped up health checks in an attempt to prevent the disease from spreading across the border.

Dr. Jon Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization, part of the U.N.’s World Health Organization, said Tuesday that an outbreak in the Dominican Republic would not be as severe as the outbreak in Haiti, because sanitary conditions there are not as bad as they are in Haiti.

Health workers fear an explosion of the disease in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, where hundreds of thousands of people have been living in crowded and unsanitary tent cities since the January earthquake that devastated the country.

The World Health Organization says the bacteria that causes the disease will be in Haiti for years.

Cholera is spread through fecal-contaminated food and water. It causes vomiting and diarrhea, and can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death. Hospitals and clinics in Haiti are now struggling to treat a growing number of people suffering from diarrhea and dehydration.

Some information in this story was provided by AP and AFP.