Cholera Epidemic Outbreak in Haiti
October/Friday/2010 17:31
Deadly Outbreak of Cholera confirmed. This is the area that Ken and I visited this past Spring after the earthquake. One of the orphanages we have supported is directly in the middle of the outbreak area. This will be a potential catastrophe. Please pray and support our work as you are able.
HAITI-CHOLERA Oct-22-2010
Death toll mounts as cholera outbreak confirmed in rural Haiti
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Haitian President Rene Preval confirmed that an outbreak of cholera caused the deaths of at least 169 people and severe diarrhea and dehydration in 2,000 others in central Haiti within 72 hours.
The confirmation Oct. 22 came after clergy in rural communities in the Antibonite department started seeing the illness and reported their concerns to aid workers.
Scientists from the Pan American Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta continued testing water and food samples to confirm Preval's announcement and determine how the disease suddenly appeared.
Aid workers were taking steps to stop the outbreak from spreading from communities in southern Antibonite to other parts of the country. Thousands of people fled to the region after the country's devastating earthquake in January.
Water, hygiene kits and antibiotics were being trucked into the area by aid agencies. Daniel Rouzier of Food for the Poor told Catholic News Service from Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, that his agency sent five water filtration systems into the area Oct. 22 and planned to send five more the next day.
Information about the disease's symptoms and prevention tips was passed on to people.
The effort was aimed at preventing the disease from reaching vulnerable tent camps in the earthquake-battered capital and surrounding communities, about two hours south of where the outbreak erupted. More than 1.3 million people continue to live in flimsy tents and under tarps in some 1,350 camps with little access to clean water and no place for human waste.
Cholera is a water-borne bacterial disease that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. Left untreated, it can kill a person within hours of the onset of symptoms because of dehydration. The disease can be treated with fluids and antibiotics. People who receive treatment quickly usually survive.
Deacon Rodrigue Mortel, director of the Missions Office for the Archdiocese of Baltimore who runs a mission program in his hometown of St. Marc, Haiti, told CNS Oct. 22 that St. Nicholas Hospital there was filled to capacity with patients exhibiting cholera symptoms.
He said the disease appeared to be spreading.
"There are many outbreaks in many places that were not affected as of yesterday," Deacon Mortel said Oct. 22. "There are other places where this has been found.
"They don't know (how it started)," he added. "We know where it started but not what triggered it."
Deacon Mortel's sister lives in St. Marc, and he said she described how prevention efforts have taken priority at Good Samaritan School, where 600 students are enrolled.
A spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services in Haiti said agency officials were meeting with representatives of other nongovernment organizations Oct. 22 to chart a response.
Robyn Fieser, regional information office for CRS, said the agency will be "beefing up hygiene efforts" in the camps housing homeless earthquake victims with follow-up steps to be determined.
Rouzier said that on Oct. 19, his agency began receiving concerned calls from priests and pastors in Antibonite who reported that dozens of ill people were seeking assistance. He said water sources in the region were often shared by humans and animals.
The government has warned Haitians to avoid eating seafood, shellfish and raw vegetables and to cook meat thoroughly.
About 1 million people live in the plateau area affected by the outbreak, the first in Haiti since the 1960s.
HAITI-CHOLERA Oct-22-2010
Death toll mounts as cholera outbreak confirmed in rural Haiti
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Haitian President Rene Preval confirmed that an outbreak of cholera caused the deaths of at least 169 people and severe diarrhea and dehydration in 2,000 others in central Haiti within 72 hours.
The confirmation Oct. 22 came after clergy in rural communities in the Antibonite department started seeing the illness and reported their concerns to aid workers.
Scientists from the Pan American Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta continued testing water and food samples to confirm Preval's announcement and determine how the disease suddenly appeared.
Aid workers were taking steps to stop the outbreak from spreading from communities in southern Antibonite to other parts of the country. Thousands of people fled to the region after the country's devastating earthquake in January.
Water, hygiene kits and antibiotics were being trucked into the area by aid agencies. Daniel Rouzier of Food for the Poor told Catholic News Service from Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, that his agency sent five water filtration systems into the area Oct. 22 and planned to send five more the next day.
Information about the disease's symptoms and prevention tips was passed on to people.
The effort was aimed at preventing the disease from reaching vulnerable tent camps in the earthquake-battered capital and surrounding communities, about two hours south of where the outbreak erupted. More than 1.3 million people continue to live in flimsy tents and under tarps in some 1,350 camps with little access to clean water and no place for human waste.
Cholera is a water-borne bacterial disease that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. Left untreated, it can kill a person within hours of the onset of symptoms because of dehydration. The disease can be treated with fluids and antibiotics. People who receive treatment quickly usually survive.
Deacon Rodrigue Mortel, director of the Missions Office for the Archdiocese of Baltimore who runs a mission program in his hometown of St. Marc, Haiti, told CNS Oct. 22 that St. Nicholas Hospital there was filled to capacity with patients exhibiting cholera symptoms.
He said the disease appeared to be spreading.
"There are many outbreaks in many places that were not affected as of yesterday," Deacon Mortel said Oct. 22. "There are other places where this has been found.
"They don't know (how it started)," he added. "We know where it started but not what triggered it."
Deacon Mortel's sister lives in St. Marc, and he said she described how prevention efforts have taken priority at Good Samaritan School, where 600 students are enrolled.
A spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services in Haiti said agency officials were meeting with representatives of other nongovernment organizations Oct. 22 to chart a response.
Robyn Fieser, regional information office for CRS, said the agency will be "beefing up hygiene efforts" in the camps housing homeless earthquake victims with follow-up steps to be determined.
Rouzier said that on Oct. 19, his agency began receiving concerned calls from priests and pastors in Antibonite who reported that dozens of ill people were seeking assistance. He said water sources in the region were often shared by humans and animals.
The government has warned Haitians to avoid eating seafood, shellfish and raw vegetables and to cook meat thoroughly.
About 1 million people live in the plateau area affected by the outbreak, the first in Haiti since the 1960s.
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