Aid Organizations Fear Haiti Disease Outbreak

On Aug. 14, a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Haiti, leaving 2,189 people dead, 12,268 injured, and at least 332 missings. Tropical Storm Grace swept over the ravaged landscape days later, hampering the complicated search and rescue mission. Yet aid groups say this is only the beginning of the crisis. The island country of nearly 12 million people has faced one disaster after another in a few weeks. The government has struggled with poverty, disease, and a fractured infrastructure since a catastrophic earthquake in 2010, which killed over 200,000 people. In July, President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated amid mounting allegations of corruption.

Another quake, followed by a storm, has left Haiti in pieces. According to U.N. estimates, 40% of the affected population requires emergency humanitarian assistance. In some areas, up to 15 inches of rain led to flash flooding and landslides, blocking roads to communities needing relief survivors inside a damaged building in Les Cayes on Aug. 15.” data-title=” A  firefighter searches for survivors inside a damaged building in Les Cayes on Aug. 15.” data-shop-image=” false” data-width=”1000″ data-height=”667″> A firefighter searches for survivors inside a damaged building in Les Cayes on Aug. 15.

“There’s a lot of death and destruction,” Ann Lee, the CEO of CORE, a community-oriented aid organization, tells TIME. “We’re slowly seeing the numbers come up, and it’s a lot worse than what I feared.” In the most affected areas—the regions of Sud, Grand’Anse, and Nippes—around 61,000 houses were destroyed. Flooding from the storm has forced people to shelter inside unstable buildings. Humanitarian workers are no less at risk. Wes Comfort, recovery and response lead at aid organization Heart to Heart Internationa told TIME his medical team chose to sleep on their car hoods. “Everyone is very wary of sleeping indoors. So last night, we camped out and listened to the aftershock rattle the tin roof of the [mayor’s] office.” Aid organizations now fear the deadly combination of landslides, falling debris, and flooding will heighten the risk of disease to the local population. During a funeral procession, people cross a river for someone who died during the earthquake in L’Asile on Aug. 18.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is also an immediate concern. Throughout the pandemic, Haiti has reported 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people and 582 deaths. Yet, testing is minimal due to poor infrastructure; confirmed cases are likely higher. Haiti was the last country in the western hemisphere to receive COVID-19 vaccines and received its first batch of 500,000 Moderna doses on July 16. But this week’s natural disasters risk escalating the spread of coronavirus through a barely vaccinated population.

CORE had just opened several COVID-19 vaccine clinics when the earthquake hit. “They’re mostly in the western [part of the country],” Lee tells TIME. “We were spreading out to the south, and this happened. And this is going to cause a lot more difficulty being able to get out there as we had planned.” Muhamed Bizimana, Assistant Country Director in Haiti at CARE aid organization, told TIME his team is concerned by the potential for another wave of COVID-19. “We are concerned that the environment created by the devastation [is] creating conditions for a new outbreak,” he said. Aid organizations say they encourage people to shelter on their home grounds rather than in crowded camps, which could further spread the virus. “This [the earthquake] only happened on Saturday. So now we are still in the incubation period,” Bizimana said. A woman injured in the earthquake is transported to a hospital in Les Cayes on Aug. 16.

Poor sanitation and damage to water systems are also sparking concerns about waterborne diseases. In Pestel, Grand’Anse, nearly 1,800 tanks of clean water were cracked by the earthquake. Stagnant water from flooding also provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes. According to Dr. Maureen Birmingham, a representative in Haiti for the Pan-American and World Health Organizations, the country had been advancing malaria control before setbacks brought about y COVID-19 and political instability.

Birmingham says medical teams are on high alert for “diarrhoeal disease, respiratory disease, […] and skin problems” due to poor sanitation, hygiene, and crowded conditions. “[It’s] hard to say which is the most worrying ” Cholera is on everyone’s minds—the country’s first outbreak came after the 2010 earthquake, resulting in nearly 10,000 deaths. The waterborne disease spread through the population, with a particularly significant increase after Hurricane Matthew in 2016. According to a UNICEF report, tHaiti’slast confirmed cholera cases were reported in February 2019. The risk, says Birmingham, is “very much on the radar.” Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.