Health

Port-au-Prince –  The death toll from the cholera epidemic in Haiti now stands at 2,405, the Public Health Ministry said Wednesday.

A total of 109,196 people have been infected by the disease, the ministry said in its latest bulletin.

The northern province of Artibonite, where the outbreak started, has now registered 805 deaths from cholera, a disease that had been eradicated in Haiti until its reappearance in October.

Nord province has registered 429 cholera deaths and Ouest province has reported 361 fatalities.

While the origin of the outbreak has not been determined, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the strain of cholera now affecting Haiti is identical to one found earlier this year in South Asia.

A French medical study concluded that the epidemic originated with a contingent of Nepalese troops assigned to the U.N. Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti.

The troops were stationed near a tributary of the Artibonite River.

Haiti is dealing with the cholera epidemic as it struggles to recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 1 million others homeless.