Avellon Williams
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI- The Haitian government announced on Sunday that eight people died of cholera, raising concerns about another potential global outbreak like the one that took nearly 10,000 lives a decade ago.
Dekayet, a southern Port-au-Prince community with gang control, and Cite de Soleil, a seaside slum where thousands of people live in unsanitary conditions, were the spots where the first cholera cases have been reported in three years.
“Cholera is something that can spread very, very quickly,” warned Dr. Laure Adrien, director general of Haiti’s health ministry.
Water contaminated with feaces of a sick person is typically the source of disease transmission, so clean drinking water is crucial.
In the event that cholera bacteria find their way into food or water, severe diarrhea and dehydration can occur, posing a serious health risk.
The United Nations said in a statement that it is working with Haiti to “mount an emergency response to this potential outbreak,” emphasizing the need to guarantee access for health teams to the affected areas.
Continuing protests and a lack of fuel are preventing basic services from being offered throughout Haiti, including medical care and clean water, which are vital to fighting cholera and ensuring patient survival.
Despite soaring prices, Haiti’s most powerful gang continues to control the entrance to the main fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince, resulting in a fuel shortage and widespread protests paralyzing the country for over two weeks.
Lack of fuel and a growing number of roadblocks prevent water trucks from visiting neighborhoods to provide potable water to residents who have the means to pay. As a result, some companies have temporarily halted operations.
Due to a complete depletion of diesel reserves, Caribbean Bottling Company said “it was unable to provide potable water to the public, adding that the lack of such a vital resource would affect “all sectors of society.”
“Health officials are visiting cholera-affected communities, but the lack of fuel has also affected their work.” Adrien called on protesters to “have a conscience and stop blocking the gas terminal.”
“This is a real problem,” he said of how the country has virtually been paralyzed. “We’re hoping this will not spread.”
According to Adrien, all those who died were not able to reach a hospital in time.
Alex Larsen, Haiti’s health minister, said protesters have a right to protest, but he asked the Haitians to allow potable water supplies to reach neighborhoods that have been cut off by protests and roadblocks.
“Water has not been in these areas for a long time, and people are not drinking treated water,” he said, adding that cholera cases could spike again. “We ask people who can afford it to add a little chlorine to the water.”
The last cholera epidemic in Haiti sickened more than 850,000 people, marking one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the preventable disease.
Peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is endemic, have been reported to have been in Haiti as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force established after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s overthrow in 2004. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the size of the force was increased.
Despite its apology in 2016, the United Nations did not take responsibility for the outbreak.
An independent panel appointed by then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released a 2011 report that did not determine conclusively how cholera entered Haiti.
In 2013, members of the panel published an independent article concluding that UN peacekeeping personnel were “most likely responsible” for the incident.
