Haiti fights to contain cholera epidemic

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.

“The epidemic of cholera, a highly contagious disease, is no longer a simple emergency, it’s now a matter of national security,” said director of the Haiti’s health ministry Gabriel Thimote.

Desperate scenes were described in the northern town of Gonaives where over 60 people were said to have died in the past few days, many of them villagers who couldn’t make it to hospital as taxis wouldn’t take them.