Haiti faces threat of cholera following Hurricane Sandy
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Haitian girl is treated for cholera
A cholera outbreak is becoming a serious threat in Haiti where treatment facilities have been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
This warning comes from the World Health Organization, WHO, which says that poor sanitation conditions in much of the country could increase the risk of communicable diseases.
According to WHO, Haiti has been recording increasing cholera cases even before the latest hurricane with over 600,000 cases registered and 7,500 deaths since the start of the epidemic in 2010.
Tarik Jaserevic is WHO spokesperson in Geneva.
"Right now we have seen some increase in the number of cholera alerts, especially in the south of the country. Several cholera treatment centres were affected. The latest figure I got was that 22 cholera treatment centres were damaged by strong winds and flooding. One of these centres in Bagaderas was destroyed but teams of MSF Holland, PAHO and WHO International Medical Core and Ministry of Health are in the area and are continuing to do case management and to ensure that supplies are available and can be replaced." (Duration: 28")
MSF is the French acronym for Doctors Without Borders and PAHO is the Pan American Health Organization.
Tarik Jaserevic cautions that at the moment the increase in cholera in Haiti cannot be attributed to the storm and the heavy rains that preceded it.
