(BBC) A doctor in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, says she has seen cases of suspected cholera, sparking fears that the epidemic has spread to the city.
Dr Kara Gibson of the American charity Samaritan’s Purse told the BBC that some people in the city’s biggest slum have symptoms of the disease.
The country’s health ministry says 501 have died from the disease so far.
But health workers say the figure could be higher as many areas have been cut off by flooding after Hurricane Tomas.
More than 7,000 people have been infected across the country, according to the ministry.
Haitian officials have not confirmed the presence of cholera in the city, but there has been concern that the disease is spreading.
The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan says diarrhoea is common in the country, because so many live in cramped and unhygienic conditions, often without toilets.
But some patients in the slum of Cite Soleil, in Port-au-Prince, have a more severe form of watery diarrhoea – which Dr Gibson says appears to be cholera.
She says there are concerns that the disease will now spread even faster, despite humanitarian efforts to stem it.
“Now that it is in Cite Soleil, you can expect to see it just explode,” Dr Gibson told the BBC.
“The hospital in that areas is already at capacity. It is maxed out in a matter of a day and there is just no other site,” she says.
Local authorities and relief agencies have been attempting to get clean drinking water to those areas worse affected by Hurricane Tomas, which caused flooding and left eight people dead.
There was flooding in Leogane, Les Cayes, Jacmel and Gonaives, while many mountain towns have been cut off by flooded roads and landslides.
Although the hurricane passed without destroying the tented camps in and around the capital – which house about 1.3 million survivors of January’s earthquake – there were fears over the increased risk of cholera.
Cholera is caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food.
It causes diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to severe dehydration, but can kill quickly.
It is treated easily through rehydration and antibiotics.
On Friday, Haiti’s government and the United Nations appealed to donors for nearly $19m (£11.7m) to cover urgent humanitarian needs.
