Haiti, a country devastated by the 7.3-magnitude earthquake which killed about 250,000 people, is now experiencing a serious cholera epidemic, the first in the country in a century.

A man suffering from cholera receives treatment in the slum of Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Nov. 20, 2010. The Haitian Health Ministry said Friday that 76 more people had died from cholera, raising the total number of victims to 1,186 since the first outbreak of the disease detected one month ago in the north of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. [Xinhua]

Cholera epidemic

Haiti has been gravely affected by the epidemic since the first outbreak of the disease detected one month ago in the north of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

The outbreak has killed some 1,200 people and nearly 20,000 people remained hospitalized.

The cholera outbreak originated in the northern Artibonite River valley, a region which was not severely damaged by the earthquake.

It spread rapidly to the neighboring departments and affected eight of the 10 departments.

Besides, the cholera disease continued to be discovered in temporary shelters in and out of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, where at least 1.3 million people have survived since the devastating earthquake shook the country.

Health experts warned that Haiti would face a very austere epidemic situation next year, with a possible death toll of 10,000 people.

It would be the worst cholera disease in the Western Hemisphere after Peru's cholera outbreak in 1991, when the disease spread to almost the whole Latin America, with 11,500 people killed and 1.5 million others affected.

Violent protests

Last weekend, Haitians staged a massive protest in Cap Haitien in northern Haiti against the Nepali peacekeepers who are deployed in the country, blaming them for the outbreak of the epidemic.