# 5000
Although this story is already being covered by such venues as Crof, Chen Qi, and the newshounds at FluTrackers (see this thread), this morning Reuters Alert Blog has a harrowing first hand account of the cholera outbreak in Haiti.
The report is authored by David Darg, who works for the U.S.-based humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International (OBI).
Reuters has printed his account, but since this is from an external source, has not endorsed it.
According to the author, 135 people have already died from this outbreak, and thousands more are affected.
Haiti cholera hospital is a horror scene
22 Oct 2010 10:54:00 GMT
Written by: David Darg
The CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases has a Q&A page on Cholera, which you might find useful. While I’ve presented some excerpts below, follow this link to read it in its entirety.
Cholera has been very rare in industrialized nations for the last 100 years; however, the disease is still common today in other parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa.
What is cholera?
Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.
How does a person get cholera?
A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
