Haiti reports first Cholera death in years

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At least seven people died from cholera, authorities in Haiti said Sunday, raising new concerns about a resurgent epidemic in the crisis-ridden Caribbean country.

Cholera killed approximately 10,000 people in the aftermath of Haiti's 2010 earthquake when it was introduced to the country by United Nations workers assisting with the response.

Nearly three years after the last confirmed case of the illness in Haiti, the country's health ministry announced on Sunday that multiple suspected cases were discovered in the capital Port-au-Prince and the coastal neighborhood of Cite Soleil.

Director General of Haiti's public health ministry Laure Adrien told reporters Sunday afternoon that seven or eight people had already died.

"Most of the victims died in the communities and could not go to hospitals," he said.

Adrien demanded that the outbreak of roadblocks across the country, in protest of the recent increase in gas prices, were so the infected could access health care or ambulances.

Protests and looting rocked the volatile country since September 11, when Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced a fuel price increase, claiming that subsidies were too costly for one of the world's poorest countries.

In an earlier statement, the health ministry stated that measures aim to limit the spread of the virus, including the investigation of other possible cases, while urging people to practice increased hygiene precautions.

The first viral cases were detected during the 2010 outbreak near the Artibonite River, where UN peacekeepers had dumped feces.

It wasn't until August 2016 that the UN officially acknowledged its role in the outbreak.

On Sunday, the UN said it was "supporting efforts by the Government of Haiti to contain a cholera outbreak and provide life-saving measures."

The last positive case was detected in 2019, and the Ministry of Public Health held a ceremony in February 2022 to mark the country's official cholera elimination.