(Community Matters) Participated in a conference call this afternoon about cholera outbreak in Haiti. The outbreak has occurred in the area immediately north of Port au Prince, the Lower Artibonite region of Hait.
To date, Partners in Health is reporting 250 confirmed dead and 3,114 hospitalized due to infection. Again, this is not in Port au Prince, it’s in the Lower Artibonite. PiH reports only knowing of 5 confirmed cases of cholera in Port au Prince – though in the densely populated capital, where 1.2mm to 1.5mm are living in tents and other temporary shelter, an epidemic of cholera is a real threat. They don’t consider a Port au Prince epidemic inevitable; they do consider more cases so, however.
In the Lower Artibonite, we aren’t talking about people living in camps. Though these residents also live in squalor, too many family members in too closed spaces – maybe with even less access to clean water and sanitation than those living in Port au Prince camps. And, it is important to remember that hundreds of thousands of PaP residents fled the city to this rural area – imposing even greater burdens on an already challenging living situation.
Some concern that the availability of clean water and sanitation has deteriorated in the camps, especially those not sponsored by a recognized international relief agency. Epidemiologists remain very concerned about the potential for spread in PaP camps.
To prevent further outbreak, it’s critical that agencies and the government increase the availability of clean water and upgrade sanitation, not only in the camps but in the markets and in the rural areas.
Rumors that the Dominican Republic has shut its borders with Haiti (not yet confirmed). The country’s major cell phone provider conducted an analysis of usage and it does not appear there has been any mass movement of the population out of infected areas.
Community Matters 