U.S. Scientists Are Killing To Regulate Haitian Population In Haiti

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Health workers find trend in Haiti's cholera outbreak 'alarming'By Moni Basu, CNNNovember 12, 2010 2:00 p.m. EST
A mother comforts her boy, who is stricken with cholera, in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The death toll is up to 796
An additional 12,000 people have been sickened
The United Nations is anticipating 200,000 people may get sick
It has asked for $164 million in global aid
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Cholera
Haiti
Haiti Earthquake
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(CNN) -- Medical workers in Haiti on Friday called the upward trend in deaths and illnesses in the cholera outbreak "alarming" as the earthquake-devastated nation's already strained health system overflowed with the sick.

In the slum of Cite Soleil on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) had seen 216 cases of cholera at Choscal Hospital.

Five days ago, that number was only 30.

Stefano Zannini, the head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres, said his staff was seeing seven times the cases they were seeing three days ago.

"The trend is extremely, extremely alarming," he said. "We have not reached a peak yet, but it could arrive next week."

Haiti: Misery after hurricane

Cholera on the rise in Haiti The death toll climbed Thursday to 796, according to Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population.

More than 12,000 people have been sickened.

Epidemiologists predict the outbreak could last for months and say the entire nation of almost 10 million people is at risk because they have no immunity to cholera.

The United Nations warned that Haiti is facing one of the most severe outbreaks of the disease in the past 100 years.

It appealed to international donors for almost $164 million in response money and said it anticipates as many as 200,000 people to show symptoms of cholera.

Of grave concern now are confirmed cases that originated in the tent cities of Port-au-Prince, which sprang up to shelter those left homeless by the earthquake last January.

Health officials fear that infection could spread quickly in congested, unsanitary conditions and in impoverished neighborhoods where clean drinking water is at a premium.

Symptoms of cholera, an acute, bacterial illness caused by drinking tainted water, can be mild or even nonexistent.

But sometimes, they can be severe -- profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, leg cramps and a rapid loss of body fluids that leads to dehydration and shock.

If the disease is left untreated, a person can die within hours.

The International Rescue Committee, Samaritan's Purse, Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), the International Medical Corps, Red Cross and Save the Children are responding to the crisis in Haiti.

Go to their websites to see how you can help.

United States Cholera, November 12 2010, 1:50 PM

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