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Red Cross Responds to Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Nov 1, 2010
The American Red Cross is extremely concerned about an outbreak of cholera in northern Haiti, and is assisting in the rapid response by the Red Cross network. As of Saturday morning, the government was reporting 2,364 people infected and 194 deaths following an outbreak of acute diarrhea in the Artibonite and Central Plateau regions of Haiti. This is not an area directly affected by the earthquake of January 12th, but the Red Cross is concerned about the speed with which this outbreak has spread.
The Red Cross network has launched a rapid and coordinated response, putting personnel on the ground in the affected area, trucking in urgently needed medical supplies and water, and broadcasting emergency messages about cholera prevention via radio and text messaging. The Red Cross response to this crisis began several days ago. On Wednesday, October 20 a Red Cross truck loaded with medical supplies was sent to a hospital in St Marc that is handling many of the cholera cases. These supplies included IV fluids, oral serum, antibiotics, first aid kits, and water filters.
To read more and for daily updates about our response, please visit www.redcross.org/haiti.
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