ARTICLE - HAITI HAS WORST CHOLERA

EXPERT SAYS HAITI HAS WORST CHOLERA
(Sacramento Bee - By Trenton Daniel (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti has the highest rate of cholera in the world, according to one of the Caribbean nation's most prominent health experts.

Dr. Paul Farmer told The Associated Press that cholera has sickened more than 450,000 people in a nation of 10 million, or nearly 5 percent of the population, and killed more than 6,000.

Farmer says cholera is also on the verge of becoming the leading cause of death by infectious disease in Haiti.

"It's freakin' incredible," Farmer, one of the founders of the medical group Partners in Health and U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti, said by telephone. "In 365 days, you go from no cases to the largest number in the world."

That's significantly more than the 100,000 to 300,000 cases documented annually in Bangladesh, Farmer said.

He also said that cholera is likely to become endemic in Haiti, meaning it will become "native" to the country.

"It's going to be with us for a long time," he said.

Farmer attributes the spread of the disease to what he describes as Haiti's status as the "most water insecure" country in the world, which means people have insufficient access to clean water.

There were no documented cholera cases in Haiti prior to the start of the outbreak a year ago this month.

Evidence suggests that the disease inadvertently arrived in Haiti by U.N. peacekeeping troops from Nepal. Cholera then spread through Haiti's biggest river because a Haitian contractor failed to ensure proper sanitation at the U.N. base.

Despite the spread of cholera, Farmer said it was possible to wipe out the disease by improving Haiti's water system and sanitation. The use of education and oral vaccines is also important, he added.

"To eradicate cholera we're going to have to vaccinate huge numbers of people," Farmer said. "It's going to require a massive campaign like polio."