Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Haitian Cholera Death Toll at 305

   VOA News 29 October 2010
   Laura   Cartanya,   left,   representing   the   Spanish   Agency  for
   International Development Cooperation (AECI), supervises the unloading
   of  humanitarian  aid  items  for Haiti's fight against cholera at the
   international airport in Port-au-Prince, 27 Oct 2010

Photo: AP

   Laura   Cartanya,   left,   representing   the   Spanish   Agency  for
   International Development Cooperation (AECI), supervises the unloading
   of  humanitarian  aid  items  for Haiti's fight against cholera at the
   international airport in Port-au-Prince, 27 Oct 2010

   Health  officials  in Haiti say the death toll in the cholera epidemic
   is  now  at  305,  as  the  disease is reported closer to the capital,
   Port-au-Prince.
   The  Pan American Health Organization says Haiti's Health Ministry has
   confirmed  just  under  4,700  cases of cholera, and that the outbreak
   remains  concentrated  in  the  northern  and  central  regions of the
   country.
   The  international  aid  group  Save the Children says there have been
   cholera  cases  reported  within  50 kilometers of the capital.  In a
   statement  Friday, the group warns that the disease poses a particular
   threat  to  more than 25,000 mothers with newborn babies living in the
   crowded, squalid temporary camps in Port-au-Prince.
   Hundreds of thousands of survivors of January's massive earthquake are
   living in the camps.   Â
   The  group says conditions within the camps would allow the disease to
   spread swiftly.
   Save  the  Children  says  it  is working with Haitian and U.N. health
   officials  to distribute rehydration salts and sanitation materials to
   help stop the spread of the disease.
   The  dehydration salts are a simple oral treatment that has been shown
   to be effective in treating and preventing complications in 80 percent
   of cholera cases.
   Aid  groups have been distributing pamphlets and instructing residents
   of  the  tent  cities  on hygiene and cholera prevention.  Cholera, a
   bacterial  infection,  is  spread  by  ingesting  contaminated food or
   water.   The  disease  is treatable but can kill within hours without
   treatment.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

.