File image of a woman receiving treatment at the MSF Cholera Center in Delmas, Haiti. PATRICK FARRELL / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO (PATRICK FARRELL / ZUMA PRESS / C)
Cholera has struck Haiti again after three years with no reported cases.
Health authorities have reported at least two confirmed cases in recent days in the area of Port-au-Prince, the capital of the Caribbean country, although the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) assures that there are some 68 patients with symptoms of the disease. .
The latest outbreak has overwhelmed several medical units, while the Haitian government has launched an emergency response to guarantee medical attention.
"Unfortunately, a three-year-old infant died," says MSF in an advance statement to EL PAÍS.
"This outbreak of cholera is taking place at a time when the Haitian population faces enormous difficulties in accessing health systems," laments the international organization.
Doctors Without Borders has pointed out that insecurity, violence and lack of drinking water have forced a halt to efforts on the ground to offer medical care.
Fuel shortages have also made it difficult for people in need of treatment to travel to medical facilities.
In recent days, various areas have been involved in protests and riots in a permanent spiral of political instability.
MSF has opened three medical units with some 70 hospital beds to support the authorities, although it warns that other units "reached their maximum capacity".
"The humanitarian crisis in Haiti is getting worse," laments the organization about the situation in the poorest country in America.
"The situation is evolving rapidly, and previous cases may have gone undetected," said a World Health Organization spokesman, who sees the number of infections and deaths likely to rise.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the health arm of the United Nations Organization on the continent, has published an epidemiological alert this week.
The first cases were confirmed on October 2.
"Several clusters of suspected cases and deaths are reported and are under investigation," PAHO reported.
The recommendation to the governments of the continent is to strengthen surveillance of suspected cases of cholera and patients with symptoms such as acute diarrhea.
They have also asked that they pay attention to the supply of drinking water and sanitation systems as a preventive measure, although they have ruled out putting the country in quarantine.
Between 2010 and 2019, Haiti registered more than 820,000 cases and 10,000 deaths from cholera, according to PAHO.
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