Outbreak of cholera out of Haiti's capital Port-Au-Prince

five cholera cases in Haiti's capital is a "very worrying development"

Port-au-Prince could still be safe. The five patients were infected north of the capital, and those confirmed cases do not mean cholera has spread to Port-au-Prince, Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti. The five patients in Port-au-Prince were infected in Artibonite, north of the capital, Wall said. They traveled to the nation's main city, where health officials discovered them to be infected within the incubation period. The five have been isolated and are receiving treatment she said.But meanwhile, officials are stepping up sanitation efforts and setting up quarantine areas in Port-au-Prince. And authorities are bracing themselves for a possible larger outbreak nationwide.Cholera is caused by a bacterial infection of the intestine and, in severe cases, is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps, according to the CDC. In such cases, rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock."Without treatment, death can occur within hours," the agency says.

A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating
food contaminated with the bacteria. During epidemics, the source of the contamination is often the feces of an infected person, and infections can spread rapidly in areas where there is poor sewage treatment and a lack of clean drinking water. The U.N. mission in Haiti credited access to clean water and free medical facilities for preventing feared outbreaks of cholera and tuberculosis.

(about Haiti's cholera epidemic.) Those most at risk are the very old and the very young. Dozens of infants who lay crying and uncomfortable on their mothers' laps, dehydrated and weak. Haiti's health minister, Dr. Alex Larsen, told in a telephone interview that he believes the cholera outbreak is stabilizing. Larsen added that reports of the outbreak spreading are so far unsubstantiated.