CDC scientist conducting epidemiologic study on water, sanitation and hygiene
On October 19, 2010, ten months after the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake in Haiti that killed over 200,000 people and displaced over 1 million, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) was notified of a sudden increase in patients presenting with watery diarrhea and dehydration in the Artibonite andCentre Departments. On October 21, 2010, the Haiti National Public Health Laboratory identified the pathogen as Vibrio cholerae. One day later, the first cholera outbreak in Haiti in at least a century was officially announced.