April 23, 2014 -- Updated 1840 GMT (0240 HKT)
Haiti is in desperate need of clean water, and without it, it faces a new cholera outbreak. FULL STORY
|
VIDEO
|
2-HOUR WALK FOR WATER
|
CLEAN WATER CRISIS
|
2-HOUR WALK FOR WATER
|
CLEAN WATER CRISIS
Why Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic 'could strike again'
April 23, 2014 -- Updated 1246 GMT (2046 HKT)
Haiti's cholera outbreak
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Haiti still recovering from cholera epidemic that left 8,000 dead
- Hospital is training doctors to prepare for new outbreak
- Poor water and sanitation infrastructure mean Haiti is still at risk
Vital Signs is a monthly program bringing viewers health stories from around the world.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- In January 2010 a seven-point magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, killing more than 250,000 people and damaging its infrastructure, including some water systems.
Even before the quake,
Haiti's water systems were fragile, and just months after the quake the
country was hit with a devastating cholera
outbreak -- the first in nearly a century. By the time the outbreak
subsided, more than 8,000 people had died and hundreds of thousands more
had become sick.
Haiti's clean water crisis
Clean water solutions for Haiti
Independent studies
suggest the outbreak was caused by U.N. peacekeepers who improperly
disposed of fecal matter that ended up in Haiti's Artibonite River, a
main tributary, where people bathe. In its own report, the U.N.
concluded that the outbreak was "the result of bacteria introduced into
Haiti as a result of human activity" -- but the organization says water
and sanitation and healthcare system deficiencies allowed the bacteria
to spread.
"A cholera patient
excretes the cholera bacteria in huge numbers and, if that excreta gets
into the water or the food supply and other people consume it, they too
will become ill and they'll amplify that by contaminating more water and
more food," explains Dr. Eric Mintz, an epidemiologist with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta. "That's where you see
these incredibly rapid epidemics of cholera, and that tells you that the
water is unsafe."
Today, Haiti's Mirebalais University Hospital is training new doctors for another cholera outbreak.
"That could happen again,
particularly in parts of the country where people have not had a lot of
cholera," says Mintz. "They may not have the experience to recognize
it. They may not know what to do in terms of treatment. We certainly
can't stop now and declare victory."
Watch the video above to find out more.
TOP LATIN AMERICAN STORIES
- Violent protests flare in Brazil
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez dies at 87
-
7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Mexico
|
Video
- Rio 2016 delays worry anti-doping chief
-
Analysis: Brazil's economic downturn
- Salsa legend Cheo Feliciano dies in car wreck
-
Venezuela reels under protests
-
Chile: Wildfire consumes 2,000 homes
|
Video
-
Inmates escape after Chile earthquake
COPY http://edition.cnn.com
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário