After fifty years of not having a cholera outbreak, Haiti is now experiencing a fairly severe outbreak of the disease. Since Saturday, 2,000 people have been brought to hospitals and an additional 105 people have died, which brings the total number of deaths from the outbreak to 442. The strain of cholera that has been found in Haiti is the same throughout the country and is the same strain often found in South Asia. Despite opinions that the cause of the outbreak will likely never be known for sure, the United Nations is investigating into Nepalese peace keepers who may have spread the disease.
This whole situation is just horrible. Haiti is still struggling to recover from the earthquake that struck at the beginning of the year, and more death and destruction is not what they need. The only upside is that this strain of cholera is easy to treat, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that so many people have died already.
Source: BBC News - "Haiti cholera deaths rise sharply"
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