Haiti on Sunday said a minimum of seven people have died of cholera in a very surprise return of the disease that comes because the nation is paralyzed by a gang blockade that has triggered shortages of fuel and clean potable.
The disease killed some 10,000 people through a 2010 outbreak that has been blamed on a UN peacekeeping force. The Pan American Health Organization in 2020 said Haiti had gone a year with no confirmed cholera cases.
"According to the knowledge we've got, the amount of deaths is about 7 to eight," said Health Ministry General Director Laure Adrien during a group discussion, adding that officials were struggling to induce information from hospitals.
"There was one death during the day today."
The Health Ministry earlier confirmed one case within the Port-au-Prince area which there have been suspect cases within the town of Cite Soleil outside the capital, which was the location of vicious gang turf wars in July.
Gangs have since last month been blocking the country's main fuel port in protest over last month's announcement of a fuel price hike. Many hospitals have close up or scaled back operations for lack of fuel to power generators.
Basic transit is now impossible for many citizens.
Caribbean Bottling Company, a key supplier of drinking water, said on Sunday that it could not continue producing and distributing water because it had run out of fuel, which is critical to its supply chain.
"According to the data we've got, the amount of deaths is about 7 to eight," said Health Ministry General Director Laure Adrien during a news conference, adding that officials were struggling to urge information from hospitals.
"There was one death during the day today."
The Health Ministry earlier confirmed one case within the Port-au-Prince area which there have been suspect cases within the town of Cite Soleil outside the capital, which was the positioning of vicious gang turf wars in July.
Cholera causes uncontrollable diarrhea.
The disease is often spread by water contaminated with the feces of a diseased person, meaning that clean beverage is critical for preventing its spread.
Troops from Nepal, where cholera is endemic, were in Haiti as a part of a U.N. peacekeeping force established in 2004 after the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The force size was increased after Haiti's 2010 earthquake.
The international organization in 2016 apologized for the outbreak, without taking responsibility.
An independent panel appointed by then-U.N. executive Ban Ki Moon issued a 2011 report that didn't determine conclusively how cholera was introduced to Haiti.
The panel members in 2013 independently published a commentary that concluded personnel related to the U.N. peacekeeping were "the possibly source."
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