Cholera

The cholera outbreak erupted after the earthquake that devastated Haiti. It began late October 2010 100 km north of Port-au-Prince and killed 4672 people by March 2011 hospitalizing thousands more.

Prior to the earthquake only 58% of the population has some access to drinking-water sources, whilst in urban settings (70%). Access to improved sanitation and disposal of waste is extremely poor (total 19%, urban 29%, rural 12%). In brief, 8 million of the country’s population of 10 million lacks access to water and/or sanitation.

Negative aspects: •Lack of reliable baseline health statistics; •High level of most communicable diseases; •Only half of the population has access to poor quality health services, water, or sanitation; •75% of health services are delivered by NGOs and faith groups, most of which are unwilling to follow Ministry of Health norms and guidelines. Positive aspects: •A strong pharmaceutical and supply system which is internationally administered; •On-site presence of external medical organizations (NGOs or bilateral).
 * Health characteristics of Haiti**

These aspects make Haiti vulnerable to diseases like Cholera. The earthquake, 2010 was the reason cholera re-emerged in Haiti.

More than 530,000 Haitians have fallen ill with cholera, and more than 7,000 have died.

Structure - Cholera

Transmission - Cholera

Symptoms & Disease Progression - Cholera

Pathogenesis - Cholera

Treatment & Response - Cholera

Contributing Factors - Cholera

Citations - Cholera