86 new deaths as Haiti cholera toll nears 1,200: officials

Health officials Friday reported 86 new deaths in Haiti's swelling cholera epidemic, which has now claimed nearly 1,200 lives and seen more than 19,000 people treated in hospital.

Health officials Friday reported 86 new deaths in Haiti's swelling cholera epidemic, which has now claimed nearly 1,200 lives and seen more than 19,000 people treated in hospital.

HT Image

The health ministry said 1,186 people have now died from the outbreak that was first detected about one month ago north of the capital and has now spread to Port-au-Prince, where hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors are living in squalid tent cities with poor sanitation.

Efforts to contain the cholera have been hampered in recent days due to rioting in the capital, where hundreds of people clashed with UN troops whom they blame for importing the disease.