健康英语新闻:Death toll from cholera rises to 6,435 in Haiti

SANTO DOMINGO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Haitian health authorities on Friday said the number of deaths caused by cholera increased to 6,435 in the Caribbean country since October 2010.

The Haitian Health Ministry said the number of people infected with cholera almost reached half a million, although the ministry repeated the epidemic was decreasing.

The report said 455,727 people had been treated due to cholera, and 242,205 had to be hospitalized.

The western province of Artibonite suffered the plague most with 1,196 deaths. The southwest province of Nippes registered the smallest death toll of 181.

Meanwhile, in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, 221 people have been killed since October 2010 when the epidemic first broke out in central Haiti.

The epidemic is supposedly due to the spill of dregs from a Nepalese camp, which is part of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The Dominican Republic, a country neighboring the island country Haiti to the east, has also been suffering the disease since November 2010, which has killed at least 135 people there.