(PressTV) – An estimated 1,250 people have died from a cholera outbreak in Haiti, amid fears that the disease may spread to other neighboring countries.

The Haitian Health Ministry said on Sunday that of a total 52,715 recorded cases, 20,687 had been treated in hospitals, DPA reported.

The UN says the cholera outbreak, first seen on October 19 in the lower Artibonite region, north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is threatening hundreds of thousands more in the country.

The disease continues to claim lives in Haiti ten months after an earthquake killed 230,000 people on the island.

The United Nations says over one million quake survivors are most at risk as they still live in dirty, overcrowded camps that lack sanitation facilities.

The World Health Organization has also warned that the deadly illness will inevitably spread to other countries in the Caribbean.

Three cases, which have been found in the neighboring Dominican Republic, are individuals, who have never been to Haiti, while two appearing in the US state of Florida, are among people who have traveled from the island country.

The severity of the cholera outbreak has caused a debate over whether or not to delay next week’s presidential election. On November 21, four non-frontrunner presidential candidates called for the election to be postponed to enable Haitian officials to focus more fully on fighting the epidemic.

The frontrunner candidates, however, say the election should be held as scheduled in order to avoid a future political crisis.

Source: PressTV

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