The cholera outbreak that has so far killed 4,888 people in
Haiti was caused by a strain “very similar but not identical” to
current South Asian strains, a UN independent panel of experts
said. The source of the outbreak was due to contamination of the
Meye Tributary of the Artibonite River, used by tens of
thousands of people for washing, bathing, and drinking. Many
people in Haiti blamed the epidemic on UN peacekeepers from
Nepal, who had been accused of poor sanitation at their base
near Mirebalais, the town where the epidemic first began. In
November 2010, this led to violent protests against the UN
peacekeeping forces. Others believed that the outbreak was
linked to voodoo. More than 50 voodoo followers have been killed
since the outbreak of cholera following accusations that they
spread the disease with occult power. However, the U.N. panel
declined to point the finger at any single group for the
outbreak, saying it was the result of a “confluence of
circumstances”. “The introduction of this cholera str