The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday that cholera cases are expected to continue to rise in recent weeks in Haiti, where almost 10,000 people have so far been affected and 643 confirmed dead.


Family members of a cholera victim asisst in taking him to the Hopital de l'Universite d'Etat d'Haiti in Port-au-Prince on November 9, 2010. (Xinhua/AFP)
OCHA said that the figures are expected to continue to rise in the days and weeks ahead, as cholera has been confirmed in Port-Au- Prince, the capital.


Bad sanitary conditions in many parts of the country, combined with the flooding and mud created by the recent passage of Hurricane Tomas, are very likely to accelerate the infection rate, it said.


OCHA said that although the case numbers continue to rise, the proportionate number of deaths continues to fall, indicating that medical interventions are working.


According to the office, 15 cholera treatments centers are now up and running nationwide: seven in Port-Au-Prince and eight in urban centers outside the capital.


Public and private hospitals around the country have also been equipped to respond, and assessment teams are determining where additional treatment centers may be needed, including in rural areas, the office added.


VietNamNet/Xinhuanet