By Jose M. Zuniga | Project Leader
Health officials in Haiti are reporting that Hurricane Tomas, which battered the Caribbean nation last weekend could dramatically worsen the cholera outbreak that has killed hundreds of people and hospitalized thousands since it began in October 2010. As of November 8, 2010, the official death toll attributed to the outbreak was 544, with more than 8,000 confirmed cases.
While previous cases had been centered in Haiti's Artibonite and Central Plateau regions, including the city of St. Marc, north of the nation's capital, health officials today confirmed the first case of cholera in Port-au-Prince -- in a 3-year-old boy who lived in a tent city very near the GHESKIO Center.
Health officials fear that the water dumped by the storm will create overflow from latrines and septic tanks that can contaminate the supply of fresh drinking water and contribute to the spread of the bacteria.
Funds are critically needed for clean drinking water supplies, to provide oral rehydration fluid and anti-biotics to individuals who are stricken with cholera, and to continue the GHESKIO Center's efforts to improve the living situation for thousands of Haitians who remain displaced after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010.
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