outbreak of the deadly disease, cholera, has claimed the lives of

0 Haitians with more than 18,000 cases reported in recent weeks.

Cholera victims await treatment in Haiti, where the disease has broken out due to a lack of sanitation and clean water following a de

e speed o

I’ve heard, and it can kill a person in four hours,

with more than 250 deaths and more than 3,100 confirmed cases, has been contained to the central rural regions around the Artibonite River, 60 miles north of the capital. But Port-au-Prince

Cholera is most likely to be found and spread in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene

Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera

The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.

Approximately one in 20 (5%) infected persons will have severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps.

What is the treatment for cholera?

Patients can be treated with oral rehydration solution, a prepackaged mixture of sugar and salts to be mixed with water and drunk in large amounts. This solution is used throughout the world to treat diarrhea. Severe cases also require intravenous fluid replacement. With prompt rehydration, fewer than 1% of cholera patients die.