Nepalese Mission Investigated as Possible Source of Cholera in Haiti

(Oct. 28) -- U.N. investigators are testing samples from a stream of human waste flowing behind a Nepalese peacekeeping base in Mirebalais, Haiti, as a potential source of the cholera outbreak in the island nation.

Residents near the base and local politicians have blamed the Nepalese contingency for spurring the recent outbreak, which has killed at least 303 people and sickened more than 4,000, according to The Associated Press.

The 12,000-member Nepalese force arrived in Haiti earlier this month. The outbreak of cholera, which has not been present on the island since the early 20th century, was first reported on Oct. 20. The disease was reported in Nepal this summer, and a report in a Japanese medical journal, cited by AP, said the particular strain of cholera that sickened Nepalese in 2008-09 is the same as the strain ravaging Haiti now. An epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned that the strain is common, however.

The Nepalese mission denies that it is the source of the outbreak. A spokesman told AP that civilian engineers had conducted tests on Friday and found them to be negative for cholera. He also said no one on the base has the disease.

The U.N. said Tuesday that the Nepalese unit uses seven sealed septic tanks that are emptied on a weekly basis into a landfill 820 feet from the Meille River. The Meille River flows into the Artibonite River, which has been pinpointed as the source of most of the cholera infections.

On Wednesday, AP reporters found an overflowing septic tank with broken pipes on the edge of the base perimeter. One of the broken pipes was spewing "out a reeking black flow from frayed plastic pipe which dribbled down to the river where people were bathing."

The landfill sites across the street, where the excrement is dumped once a week, were "a series of open pits uphill from family homes," AP reported. "Ducks swim and pigs wallow in pools of runoff. The pits abut a steep slope which heads straight down to the river, with visible signs where water has flowed during recent heavy rains."

Locals reported the runoff constantly flows into the river, which they rely on for clothes washing, bathing and drinking water.

The spokesman for the base said that the septic tank the reporters had encountered had been uncovered to allow investigators to take samples. AP and Al-Jazeera reporters later watched as Nepalese troops covered the flowing septic pipe but did not plug it.

Read more at: The Associated Press.