Haiti launches new anti-cholera vaccination campaign

Cholera is an infection that causes severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death. It occurs in places with poor sanitation and can be treated by drinking clean fluids.

The Western Hemisphere’s only cholera epidemic has infected nearly 550,000 and killed 7,400 people in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic since October 2010 – with nearly all of the deaths in Haiti, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Cases of cholera first emerged in central Haiti’s Artibonite River region, possibly as a result of poor sanitary conditions at a U.N. base of peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is endemic. Haiti previously had no cases of cholera in recorded history.

Source: Reuters

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