bullwinkle8088 t1_j68ozdm wrote
Reply to comment by JugglinB in TIL cholera was reintroduced to Haiti after a century by UN peacekeepers responding to the 2010 earthquake. The resulting outbreak was the worst on record, killing 10,000 and infecting 820,000. by theworkinglad
You don't think, but it is fairly evident from actual studies the outbreak indeed originated at the peacekeeping base. The UN itself has accepted responsibility for the outbreak.
They had been complaining of it before the earthquake, and even investigating the same source. The breakdown of conditions after the quake allowed it to grow in scale.
tl;dr: Genetic analysis of the Cholera strain matched it with the strain found in Nepal.
JugglinB t1_j69kwog wrote
But it was expected. Someone somewhere was going to bring cholera into the camp, and when it happened it would be huge. It was one of the biggest worries that we (on the ground at the time) had.
Cholera was going to happen. The source for it unknown, but it was going to happen. That the UN brought it in is almost a mute point. Thousands of humanitarian workers from all over the globe swamped in. Some helpful, some (and I'll name one here - Scientology) not so much! (I can add details here if needed about planes carrying relief aid being delayed whilst they flew in auditors if needed). Again, once more with feeling - it was going to happen!
EDIT:. Loving the downvotes from people who weren't there, and probably have never worked in humanitarian missions anywhere - whilst I've worked all over the world. I'm sure you all know far more than me about it!
(Heads for the hills as this WILL bring in downvote avalanche - but seriously? I have 20 years experience in this... Before you downvote consider how much experience do YOU have in this area?)
KingDarius89 t1_j6amtbe wrote
I largely down voted you for the condescending edit.
JugglinB t1_j6ann2d wrote
Fair enough. But hopefully you can see that being downvoted by people who read one article and think that they know everything is also somewhat daft?
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