The rate of deaths in Haiti's cholera epidemic slowed on Monday. This followed a multinational medical operation scale up to limit the spread of an outbreak that has killed 259 people in the earthquake-hit country. However Haitian and international health authorities are still bracing for more cases before the epidemic is finally controlled. So far, the epidemic has mostly impacted two rural central Haitian provinces, Artibonite and Center, along with the few isolated cases in the capital Port-au-Prince. Suspected cases have also been reported in the Nord and Sud provinces.
United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement, “A nationwide outbreak with tens of thousands of cases is a real possibility.” Over the last several days the fatalities had numbered dozens each day. However only six cholera deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours in the main outbreak region of Artibonite in central Haiti, bringing total deaths to 259. Confirmed cases rose to 3,342, compared with 3,015 a day ago, health authorities reported. No new cases were reported. Special cholera treatment centers have been set up in the main central outbreak areas and the capital, and health officials say sufficient supplies of antibiotic medicines exist in the country to treat up to 100,000 patients.
Gabriel Thimote, Director General of Haiti's Health Department is optimistic while saying, “We think the situation is stabilizing.” Dr. Rob Quick of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, “People are getting the message that they need to seek care quickly if they develop diarrhea....Also it's a measure of the supplies in place, the health workers, and being prepared to treat the disease.”
Dr. Michel Thieren, the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) top medical officer in Haiti however believes vigilance at this stage is a key. “Our response is tailored to be prepared for a countrywide epidemic...at the moment we consider everyone at risk,” he added.
PAHO, the regional office of the World Health Organization is warning the neighboring areas to brace for spread. This includes the island of Hispaniola to Dominican Republic. Other states in the Caribbean are also alerted.
Sarah Morgan, Senior Health Programme Adviser at aid agency World Vision, said that it is possible low-level cholera was present in Haiti all along. “Surveillance data on cholera in Haiti are not available,” she says. However, watery diarrhea has been common in the country, causing 5% to 16% of the deaths among Haitian children, according to CDC data.
Epidemics of Vibrio Cholerae are caused by one of two strains: 01, which has been identified as the cause of the current epidemic in Haiti, and the South-East Asian strain 0139. Experts explain that 75% of people infected with Vibrio Cholerae do not develop symptoms. But they excrete the bacterium with their faeces for up to 14 days - a potential source of infection for others.
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