Suspected cholera outbreak in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A suspected cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 135 people in Haiti as the French-speaking Caribbean country grapples with its deadliest health problem since its devastating earthquake.
The outbreak has occurred in the rural Artibonite region.
Many of the sick have converged on a hospital in the seaside city of St. Marc, where hundreds of dehydrated patients lay on blankets in a parking lot with IVs in their arms as they waited for treatment.
The area did not experience significant damage in the January 12 quake but has absorbed thousands of refugees from the devastated capital.
Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours. Treatment involves administering a salt and sugar-based rehydration serum. (CMC)