In Haiti, the first deaths from cholera for 3 years raise fears of a return of the epidemic
The Director General of the Ministry of Public Health and Population, October 2, 2022. REUTERS - RALPH TEDY EROL
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At least seven people have died of cholera in Haiti, authorities announced on Sunday, reigniting fears of a resurgence of the disease in this country where an epidemic had killed more than 10,000 people between 2010 and 2019.
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Cholera has killed at least seven people in recent days, according to authorities.
The Ministry of Public Health and Population had announced a few hours earlier "
the detection of a confirmed case of cholera in Savane Pistache Décayette, in the commune of Port-au-Prince, and of suspected cases in Brooklyn, in the municipality of Cité Soleil
”.
“
Most of the victims died in their neighborhoods and could not get to the hospital
,” explained Lauré Adrien, pleading for
the roadblocks set up in the country to protest against the increase announced on September 11 in the price fuels
are lifted in order to allow patients to access health care facilities or ambulances to be able to reach them.
"
The breeding ground for the disease to develop is ideal
"
"
It is very difficult not to make the connection with the sanitation problems that the capital is experiencing these days,
" said Benoît Vasseur, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders, in the Martissant area of Port-au-Prince
.
The Ministry of Health was on the verge of declaring Haiti free of cholera after almost three years since the last recorded case.
Now, with the situation, the lack of drinking water and the promiscuity of the population in ever-deteriorating hygienic conditions, it is quite obvious that the breeding ground for the disease to develop is ideal.
The Ministry of Public Health had organized a ceremony in February marking the official elimination of cholera in Haiti, the last case, before those announced on Sunday, having been identified in 2019.
The ministry had assured Sunday afternoon that it had taken steps to try to prevent any spread of the disease, in particular by investigating the possibility of other cases.
He also called on the population to be cautious in adopting hygiene measures.
Several homes
Introduced by UN peacekeepers in 2010, the cholera virus killed some 10,000 people in Haiti.
The blue helmets had dumped feces into the Artibonite river and the first cases had appeared in this region, before the epidemic spread throughout the country.
The UN had admitted having played a role in the introduction of the virus only in August 2016.
The Ministry of Public Health and Population has organized an emergency meeting to coordinate the response to the possible epidemic, with the partners present in the territory: MSF, other humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies. We are worried that we still have not identified the origin of the contamination
, points out the head of mission of MSF.
What worries us is also the fact that we have two different geographical origins of contamination.
One in Cité Soleil, the other near Martissant.
This proves
that there are two sources of contamination and that if there are two, there may be others.
»
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Haiti
Health and medicine