Haiti hit by killer cholera outbreak

A cholera outbreak in central Haiti has killed at least 140 people and left more than 1,500 ill.

Aid groups are rushing doctors and supplies to fight the country’s deadliest health crisis since January’s massive earthquake.

It is the first cholera epidemic in the Western hemisphere’s poorest country for a century.

The disease was not present in Haiti before the earthquake, but experts say conditions are ripe for it to strike in areas with limited access to clean water.

Cholera is a bacterial infection spread through contaminated water.

It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours.

Humanitarian officials do not yet know how the outbreak occurred.

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