Spain's Queen Sofia tours Haiti reconstruction projects amid ongoing cholera epidemic

Spain's Queen Sofia spent two days in Haiti "touring reconstruction projects that the Spanish government and her own foundation hope will improve housing, education, sanitation and health in Haiti," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports. Her tour included a water sanitation plant that Haitian president Michel Martelly called "a key way for us to solve the cholera" epidempic, which "has killed more than 6,200 people and sickened almost 440,000 others since it surfaced last year, according to Haitian health officials," AP writes (10/7). "[C]holera is still rife in Haiti and far from under control," Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reports, adding, "Since the first cases were confirmed in October 2010, MSF has treated almost 160,000 patients" and has seen the number of patients admitted jump from 300 to more than 850 in the past month (10/7).