HAITI has desperately sought to halt a cholera epidemic that threatens to spiral out of control after reaching the capital’s crowded slums, where 73 cases and one death have so far been recorded.

UNITED Nations officials warn that cholera, which is easily treatable but can kill at alarming speed, has a foothold in Haiti, and could fester in the country for years.

Health workers said the number of people confirmed dead from cholera in Haiti is almost 200 with more than 2,300 sick.

THE search for survivors of Haiti’s killer earthquake started to wind down and Haiti’s government said yesterday it would move some 400,000 homeless to new villages to be built outside the wrecked capital.