Haiti said on Sunday that at least seven people have died from cholera as the country is paralyzed by gang blockades that have caused shortages of fuel and clean drinking water.
The disease killed about 10,000 people throughout the 2010 outbreak blamed on UN peacekeepers. The Pan American Health Organization in 2020 said Haiti has had no confirmed cases of cholera in a year.
“According to the information we have received, the number of deaths is around seven to eight,” health ministry director Laure Adrien said at a news conference, adding that authorities were having trouble getting information from hospitals. .
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“One person died during the day today.”
The Ministry of Health previously confirmed one case in the Port-au-Prince area and a suspected case in the town of Cité Soleil on the outskirts of the capital, where a vicious gang turf war took place in July. Did.
Gangs have blocked the country’s main fuel port since last month in protest of fuel price hikes announced last month. Stopping or shrinking.
Basic transportation is currently not possible for most citizens.
Caribbean Bottling Company, a major bottled water supplier, said on Sunday it could no longer continue producing and distributing water due to a shortage of diesel fuel, critical to its supply chain.
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Cholera causes uncontrolled diarrhea.
The disease is usually spread by water contaminated with the faeces of sick people. In short, clean drinking water is important to prevent the spread of disease.
Troops from cholera-stricken Nepal were in Haiti as part of the UN peacekeeping force established in 2004 after the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The size of the force increased after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The United Nations apologized for the outbreak in 2016 without taking responsibility.
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An independent commission appointed by then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a 2011 report that did not conclusively determine how cholera was brought to Haiti.
In 2013, panel members independently published an article concluding that personnel associated with UN peacekeeping operations were the “most likely source”.