Concerns over surge in cholera in Haiti post-Matthew
There are growing concerns over a surge in cholera cases in hurricane-hit Haiti. The impoverished nation was already struggling to stem the water-borne disease ahead of Hurricane Matthew, which has so far claimed over 300 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and damaged the country's water and sanitation systems. ITV points out that UN peacekeepers inadvertently introduced cholera to the country after the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010; the disease has already killed around 9,000 people and infected hundreds of thousands more.

The number of people killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti has risen to 572, as medics on the island prepare for a surge in cholera cases.

The nation is left with flooded roads, collapsed bridges and power outages in the wake of the hurricane, which has battered the Caribbean and is now near the US east coast.

According to a tally by the Reuters news agency on the basis of numbers reported by local officials, 572 people have been killed and another 61,500 remain in shelters.

More than 3,200 homes have been destroyed.

"Devastation is everywhere," said Pilus Enor, mayor of a town called Camp Perrin on the peninsula's south shore.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:30 Hurricane Matthew's Haiti destruction from the air

"Every house has lost its roof. All the plantations have been destroyed," he said.

"This is the first time we see something like this."

Four people have also been killed in the Dominican Republic, one in Colombia and one in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

But it is Haiti, already the hemisphere's least-developed and most aid-dependent nation, that has suffered the most.

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Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:46 Hurricane Matthew batters Haiti

Most deaths are believed to have occurred in the southwest region, and officials fear the toll might rise even further as information from remote areas trickles in.

The southern city of Jeremie is said to have suffered "complete destruction", while a bridge over the La Digue river in Petit Goave has been destroyed.

In Les Cayes, home to a major port, a cathedral roof has been completely blown off, and banana and mango crops have been ravaged in fields.

Image: Les Cayes, in southern Haiti, has been flooded, its cathedral heavily damaged

Officials say at least 350,000 people will need some sort of assistance, in what will likely become the country's worst humanitarian crisis since a devastating earthquake in January 2010.

With crops destroyed, wells inundated by seawater and some water treatment facilities ruined, officials said that food and water were urgently needed.

The Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal to provide immediate relief to 50,000 Haitians. It is aiming to raise more than £5m for medical relief, shelter and sanitation over the next year.

Image: Rescuers are struggling to reach more remote areas

Health officials are bracing themselves for an increase in cases of cholera.

"Due to massive flooding and its impact on water and sanitation infrastructure, cholera cases are expected to surge after Hurricane Matthew and through the normal rainy season until the start of 2017," the Pan American Health Organisation said.

Even before the storm hit this week, the impoverished nation was struggling to stem the waterborne disease.

International aid groups are already appealing for donations for a lengthy recovery effort.

The UK is sending a team of humanitarian experts, International Development Secretary Priti Patel said.

In the coming days, the US military expects to help deliver food and water to hard-hit areas via helicopter.