An agonizing man, who died shortly after allegedly suffering of diarrhea, is carried into the St. Nicholas hospital in Saint Marc, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010. Health officials say the outbreak of severe diarrhea has killed at least 54 people and sickened hundreds more while patients have been lying on blankets outside the crowded hospital and doctors are testing for cholera, typhoid and other illnesses that could have caused the outbreak.(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Cholera, or colera to some Googlers, is running rampant in rural Haiti and has taken the lives of 142 Haitians so far.
Gallery: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
The outbreak has spread throughout the Artibonite region of the forlorn country, an area which holds thousands of displaced earthquake refugees. Officials have feared the epeidemic spreading among the squalid tarp cities where poor sanitation leaves so many homeless earthquake victims left vulnerable to infection.
Health Ministry director Gabriel Thimothe said laboratory tests confirmed that the illness is cholera. He said Friday that 142 people have died and more than 1,000 infected people were hospitalized.
Many suffering from cholera have St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc. Aid groups arenow rushing medical and sanitary suppplies down to Haiti to help keep the outbreak from spreading.
Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection that spreads through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours. Many cholera victims in the Artibonite region contracted the infection by drinking from a water canal.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is the first cholera outbreak to hit Haiti in decades.
With The Associated Press
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