10-22-2010, 11:55 AM
this has frightening implications. it's an island thankfully, but people get on planes. this could have devastating consequences for those people.
(CNN) -- Chaos reigned north of Haiti's capital Friday as hospitals overflowed with people rushing to get help from a fast-moving cholera break that has killed at least 138 people.
Terry Snow, Haiti director for the non-profit Youth With a Mission, saw people lined up outside hospitals and clinics, many in stretchers, waiting 24 hours or more to get care.
Snow said he tried to take one man with cholera to various clinics, only to end up at St. Nicolas hospital in the city of Saint Marc to learn that it was full. The man died soon thereafter in the back of his truck, he said.
"This is totally unprecedented," said Snow, who has lived in Haiti for about 20 years. "We have never had an outbreak like this.
Sandrellie Seraphin, who works for Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation, visited the hospital Wednesday.
"It's terrible," she told CNN by phone, describing the crowds of people trying to get help. "There's a great fear among the people" about the disease.
In addition to the at least 138 people who have died, 1,526 people have been sickened in the outbreak, said Imogen Wall, the U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman in Haiti.
This comes after recent heavy rains spurred the banks of the Artibonite River to overflow and flood the area. Dammed in 1956 to create Lac de Peligre, the Artibonite River is Haiti's dominant drainage system, according to the U.S. Library of Congress. All the cholera cases have been reported in the Lower Artibonite region, north of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
"It's very chaotic," Snow said of the scene in the city of Saint Marc and more rural agricultural areas nearby. "People are trying to figure out what to do. People are lost."
Snow said that "constant miscommunication and confusion" have hindered aid efforts, though he expressed hope things may improve Friday as more help comes in.
On Friday, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive confirmed the cholera outbreak began Tuesday and said authorities were working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to understand what happened.
"We have to determine ... where (the cholera) came from," he said.
A dearth of clean, filtered water and a lack of qualified medical personnel were other pressing problems, Snow said. Government authorities and people from various non-profit groups also were working to install water filtration systems around the region, especially at hospitals and health clinics, he said.
Cholera is caused by a bacterial infection of the intestine and, in severe cases, is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps, according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In such cases, rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock. "Without treatment, death can occur within hours," the agency says.
A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the bacteria. During epidemics, the source of the contamination is often the feces of an infected person, and infections can spread rapidly in areas where there is poor sewage treatment and a lack of clean drinking water, according to the CDC.
All the reported cases in the Lower Artibonite involve severe diarrhea and vomiting, Wall said.
Dr. Michel Thieren of the Pan American Health Organization described the outbreak as "severe," and said officials are trying to track how far it has spread.
"The government needs a lot of support, and they need to be vigilant in how they respond," he said.
The impoverished island nation is still trying to bounce back from a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12 that destroyed much of the capital city. The U.N. mission in Haiti credited access to clean water and free medical facilities for preventing feared outbreaks of cholera and tuberculosis.
But Snow said he has noticed a rise in new illnesses -- from skin infections to flu-like viruses -- in the region since tens of thousands of people moved to the area following the earthquake and the opening of a new canal off the Artibonite River.
(CNN) -- Chaos reigned north of Haiti's capital Friday as hospitals overflowed with people rushing to get help from a fast-moving cholera break that has killed at least 138 people.
Terry Snow, Haiti director for the non-profit Youth With a Mission, saw people lined up outside hospitals and clinics, many in stretchers, waiting 24 hours or more to get care.
Snow said he tried to take one man with cholera to various clinics, only to end up at St. Nicolas hospital in the city of Saint Marc to learn that it was full. The man died soon thereafter in the back of his truck, he said.
"This is totally unprecedented," said Snow, who has lived in Haiti for about 20 years. "We have never had an outbreak like this.
Sandrellie Seraphin, who works for Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation, visited the hospital Wednesday.
"It's terrible," she told CNN by phone, describing the crowds of people trying to get help. "There's a great fear among the people" about the disease.
In addition to the at least 138 people who have died, 1,526 people have been sickened in the outbreak, said Imogen Wall, the U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman in Haiti.
This comes after recent heavy rains spurred the banks of the Artibonite River to overflow and flood the area. Dammed in 1956 to create Lac de Peligre, the Artibonite River is Haiti's dominant drainage system, according to the U.S. Library of Congress. All the cholera cases have been reported in the Lower Artibonite region, north of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
"It's very chaotic," Snow said of the scene in the city of Saint Marc and more rural agricultural areas nearby. "People are trying to figure out what to do. People are lost."
Snow said that "constant miscommunication and confusion" have hindered aid efforts, though he expressed hope things may improve Friday as more help comes in.
On Friday, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive confirmed the cholera outbreak began Tuesday and said authorities were working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to understand what happened.
"We have to determine ... where (the cholera) came from," he said.
A dearth of clean, filtered water and a lack of qualified medical personnel were other pressing problems, Snow said. Government authorities and people from various non-profit groups also were working to install water filtration systems around the region, especially at hospitals and health clinics, he said.
Cholera is caused by a bacterial infection of the intestine and, in severe cases, is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps, according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In such cases, rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock. "Without treatment, death can occur within hours," the agency says.
A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the bacteria. During epidemics, the source of the contamination is often the feces of an infected person, and infections can spread rapidly in areas where there is poor sewage treatment and a lack of clean drinking water, according to the CDC.
All the reported cases in the Lower Artibonite involve severe diarrhea and vomiting, Wall said.
Dr. Michel Thieren of the Pan American Health Organization described the outbreak as "severe," and said officials are trying to track how far it has spread.
"The government needs a lot of support, and they need to be vigilant in how they respond," he said.
The impoverished island nation is still trying to bounce back from a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12 that destroyed much of the capital city. The U.N. mission in Haiti credited access to clean water and free medical facilities for preventing feared outbreaks of cholera and tuberculosis.
But Snow said he has noticed a rise in new illnesses -- from skin infections to flu-like viruses -- in the region since tens of thousands of people moved to the area following the earthquake and the opening of a new canal off the Artibonite River.
