Mortality Rates during Cholera Epidemic, Haiti, 2010-2011

Abstract

The 2010 cholera epidemic in Haiti was one of the largest cholera epidemics ever recorded. To estimate the magnitude of the death toll during the first wave of the epidemic, we retrospectively conducted surveys at 4 sites in the northern part of Haiti. Overall, 70,903 participants were included; at all sites, the crude mortality rates (19.1-35.4 deaths/1,000 person-years) were higher than the expected baseline mortality rate for Haiti (9 deaths/1,000 person-years). This finding represents an excess of 3,406 deaths (2.9-fold increase) for the 4.4% of the Haiti population covered by these surveys, suggesting a substantially higher cholera mortality rate than previously reported.

Keywords: Haiti; bacteria; burden; cholera; epidemic; mortality; outbreak.

Figure 1

Study sites used to determine mortality rates during cholera epidemic, Haiti, 2010–2011: entire town of Gonaives, urban slum in Cap-Haïtien, rural communal sections in North Department, and communal section of Gaspard. Red circles, rural sites; blue circles, urban sites. Circle size is proportional to the estimated population of each site.

Figure 2

Crude mortality rate (CMR; no. deaths/1,000 person-years), by week, at study sites used to determine mortality rates during cholera epidemic, Haiti, 2010–2011. A) Gonaives; B) Cap-Haïtien; C) North Department; D) Gaspard. Red line indicates the expected crude mortality rate for Haiti in 2010 in the absence of an epidemic. Error bars indicate 95% CIs.