International aid and Haitian officials said at least five cases of cholera have been confirmed in Haiti's capital Saturday but insisted that the epidemic still had not spread to Port-au-Prince.These were people who contracted it outside of Port-au-Prince,'' Imogen Wall, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. ``But we still think this epidemic has not reached its peak.''Humanitarian aid workers continued to struggle to contain the cholera outbreak that so far has killed 208 Haitians and hospitalized 2,674 as the government mounted a nationwide prevention campaign Saturday on television and radio.
A cholera epidemic spread in central
Haiti on Friday as aid groups rushed doctors and supplies to fight the country's worst health crisis since January's earthquake. Nearly 200 deaths had been confirmed and
more than 2,000 people were ill.The first two cases of the disease outside the rural Artibonite region were confirmed in Arcahaie, a town that is closer to the quake-devastated capital, Port-au-Prince. Officials are concerned the outbreak could reach the squalid tarp camps where hundreds of thousands of quake survivors live in the capital. by the health ministry in Arcahaie, the International Medical Corps said it was investigating other possible cases in Croix-des-Bouquet, a suburb of the capital. Radio reports also said there were two dozen cases of diarrhea on Gonave island.Cholera was not present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts had warned that conditions were ripe for disease to strike in areas with limited access to clean water."You cannot say it is because of the earthquake, but because of the earthquake the situation here requires a high level of attention in case the epidemic extends," said Michel Thieren, a program officer for the Pan-American Health Organization.
Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours.Larsen, the health minister, urged anyone suffering diarrhea to make their own rehydration serum out of salt, sugar and water to drink on the way to a hospital. The Ministry of Health confirmed 194 deaths and 2,364 cases of cholera,
Haiti on Friday as aid groups rushed doctors and supplies to fight the country's worst health crisis since January's earthquake. Nearly 200 deaths had been confirmed and
more than 2,000 people were ill.The first two cases of the disease outside the rural Artibonite region were confirmed in Arcahaie, a town that is closer to the quake-devastated capital, Port-au-Prince. Officials are concerned the outbreak could reach the squalid tarp camps where hundreds of thousands of quake survivors live in the capital. by the health ministry in Arcahaie, the International Medical Corps said it was investigating other possible cases in Croix-des-Bouquet, a suburb of the capital. Radio reports also said there were two dozen cases of diarrhea on Gonave island.Cholera was not present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts had warned that conditions were ripe for disease to strike in areas with limited access to clean water."You cannot say it is because of the earthquake, but because of the earthquake the situation here requires a high level of attention in case the epidemic extends," said Michel Thieren, a program officer for the Pan-American Health Organization.Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours.Larsen, the health minister, urged anyone suffering diarrhea to make their own rehydration serum out of salt, sugar and water to drink on the way to a hospital. The Ministry of Health confirmed 194 deaths and 2,364 cases of cholera,
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