Cholera spreading in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Cholera is increasing in Haiti amid fears flooding from last week's Hurricane Tomas will mean even more cases from drinking contaminated water, officials say.

Haiti's health ministry said the cholera death toll stood at 583 Tuesday, and 9,123 Haitians have been hospitalized, The Miami Herald reported.

Haitian and international health officials admit that the epidemic is growing and has not peaked.

"We are on a rise," Christian Lindmeier, spokesman for the World Health Organization in Haiti, said. "The figures will climb."

"This is now a matter of national security," Dr. Gabriel Timothee, director general of the Ministry of Health, said.

The disease has reportedly spread to the capital of Port-au-Prince, overcrowded with 1.5 million people displaced by the January earthquake, many without access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation.

"The increasing numbers of cases of suspected cholera in our facilities throughout Port-au-Prince are certainly alarming," Stefano Zannini of Doctors Without Borders said.