Haiti cholera outbreak kills almost 100
Port-au-Prince, Nov 4 (EFE).- A cholera outbreak in Haiti has so far caused 97 deaths, the Ministry of Public Health and Population said Friday.
In its latest report, the department specified that there are 4,194 suspected cases, 502 confirmed and 3,698 hospitalized.
The average age of hospitalized people is 19 years and the positivity rate is 38.49 percent, while among the suspected cases, 59.63 percent are men and 40.37 percent women.
The department of Haiti most affected by cholera is Ouest, which includes Port-au-Prince, with over 450 confirmed cases.
The capital has the highest number of cases – 1,848 suspected and 154 confirmed – with the epicenter in impoverished and densely populated neighborhood Cité Soleil, with almost 1,000 suspected cases and 69 confirmed.
Also heavily affected is the main civilian prison in Port-au-Prince, with 368 suspected cases and 14 confirmed cases.
Given this situation, the European Union has allocated €1 million (about $997,000) to support the emergency response to Haiti’s cholera epidemic, to be implemented by the Pan American Health Organization.
After more than three years without any cases, Haiti confirmed two cholera infections in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince on Oct. 2.
Following the 2010 earthquake, an outbreak of cholera was reported in Haiti due to the discharge of sewage from a United Nations peacekeeping force base into a river, causing some 10,000 deaths and more than 820,000 infections. EFE
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