Haiti Cholera Toll reaches 2,761 Mark

Death toll from Haiti cholera outbreak has risen to 2,761 mark and the water-borne disease continues to have firm grip on the quake-hit Caribbean nation, official figures showed Wednesday. At least 60 people were shown to have died on four of the previous five days recorded by the health ministry, between December 14 and December 17. This level has not been seen since deaths peaked in mid-November.

The number of infections has soared above 130,000 as Haiti's first cholera outbreak in more than a century pours further misery on a poor and politically dysfunctional country trying to recover from a devastating January earthquake.

The cholera outbreak led to deadly anti-UN riots last month as some turned their anger on peacekeepers from Nepal accused of bringing the disease into the country.

Experts say the outbreak was likely sparked by a human source from outside the region and the United Nations has promised a thorough investigation into the origin of the epidemic.

As cholera concerns grow, angry mobs in the deeply superstitious nation have stoned or hacked to death at least 45 people -- most of them voodoo priests -- accusing them of spreading the water-borne bacterial infection.

The epidemic comes against the backdrop of deep political uncertainty.

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Flawed first round elections to find a successor to President Rene Preval are to be the subject of a recount to be monitored by international observers.

Meanwhile, infections have risen above 100 in the neighboring Dominican Republic and health authorities are probing a possible first fatality there.

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Source-AFP