Jeff Byrne

    WHEN a devastating earthquake leveled the Caribbean island of Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people on Jan. 12, experts warned that precautions should be taken to prevent an outbreak of cholera.

    So it was chilling to learn over the weekend that more than 200 people had died and at least 2,000 more were infected with this potentially fatal disease which is always a threat in the aftermath of disasters such as Haiti’s. News reports said aid agencies were “scrambling” to send workers in to try to stem the spread of infection.

    Most people thought the outbreak had occurred among the survivors of the Port au Prince tragedy where 1.3 million people are still living in tents or makeshift shanties — 10 months later.

    No, the outbreak has occurred in what has been described as a “relatively affluent” area, 80 kilometers north of the capital.

    Authorities are worried about the disease reaching the capital which is still in a shambles.

    U.N. Deputy Humanitarian Emergency Coordinator Catherine Bragg just visited the four camps housing the survivors and described conditions as “really awful.”

    But what is most stunning about this situation is that experts are “baffled.” It is the first outbreak in Haiti for 100 years. They say it was not expected because the disease “was not recently present.”

    Well, no, but they were clearly warned 10 months ago of a situation such as this. And, they say they don’t know how cholera could have spread. Not all that hard to determine. Haiti has been lashed by heavy rains in recent weeks and now, authorities fear, latrines have overflowed into the Arbonite River where most people do their washing and take their drinking water. Cholera is a water-borne disease causing severe diarrhea.

    Most patients will recover if they are quickly given rehydration salts and severe cases treated with antibiotics.

    The U.N. and aid agencies are now struggling to minimize the number of people infected by promoting personal hygiene such as frequent hand-washing and the safe preparation of food and drinking water. It’s a bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted. But the burgeoning question here is, not that this new tragedy has happened, but why it happened?

    To say it was unexpected is pure twaddle. The warnings were there 10 months ago. It seems the experts were ignored. With so many agencies involved, it will be easy to point the finger, but some one must come up with an answer. Haiti remains the question.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)