Health: Cholera Death "near 300"

Health officials in Haiti say nearly 300 people are now known to have died in a cholera outbreak in the country.
Although the number of new cases has slowed, hundreds more infections were reported on Tuesday.
The UN and aid agencies are boosting prevention efforts in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, with a public information campaign on hygiene.

Experts say that after a long absence from Haiti, cholera could now "settle" and become endemic
The UN said 25 more people had died of the disease on Tuesday, bringing the total to 284. The number of reported cases now stands at 3,612.

Health experts say they expect the outbreak will soon lessen but the disease will eventually join malaria and tuberculosis in becoming endemic in Haiti.

"It's normal that we should expect a settlement of cholera in Haiti nationwide over the coming months," Dr Michel Thieren of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) told Reuters news agency.
Dr Thieren said the next major development would be if cases appeared in the capital.
Federica Nogarotto, of charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said the slowdown in cases was positive.
"It suggests that people are taking precautions and that there is a greater understanding in the community of the need to maintain strict hygiene and to seek medical assistance at the first sign of symptoms," she told AFP.

The spread of the disease has alarmed locals in the region, who have reportedly vented their fears on the doctors who have arrived to help them.

The Associated Press reported that a treatment centre set up by the Spanish branch of MSF in Saint-Marc had been attacked by angry stone-throwing youths, who said they were afraid that the facility would bring more cases of the disease to their town

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