Post date: Dec 18, 2010 12:13:16 PM
Rumours that voodoo followers are to blame for Haiti's cholera outbreak trigger revenge attacks and murder.
HAITI-VOODOO FEAR -This man is a casualty of a new crisis looming in parts of Haiti.He was killed by vigilantes who blame voodoo followers for deliberately causing illness in a plot using a mystery poison powder.
At Camp Neptune where cases of cholera are on the rise among its population of 70, 000 reports of revenge attacks on suspected voodoo practitioners are emerging.
This man believes his swollen foot is the result of the rumoured voodoo powder.
Another of the camp's inhabitants, Mona, believes her 13-year-old daughter contracted cholera the same way.
Mona, mother of 13-year-old cholera survivor, saying (Creole):
"Yesterday, early in the morning, my daughter came with me to my cab to go to work. By three o'clock I got a phone call telling me to come home quickly and when I got there I found she was sick. I took her to hospital and they doctor said she had cholera. She stayed overnight and this morning I am back with her at home."
Camp Neptune's head of security says residents need to be vigilant.
Lizer Games, head of camp security, saying (Creole):
"It's not only the cholera that is killing people. It's important that people are cautious in this situation and are alert everywhere because in this camp alone 17 people have been killed by the powder thinking that they've been infected by cholera and a lot more are in hospital for treatment."
As the residents of Camp Neptune turn on each other, Haiti's government has issued a statement saying that voodoo priests can't spread cholera and that the best defence is good hygiene.
That's not easy for the thousands living here after January's earthquake destroyed their homes.
Camp Neptune is served by just three toilets overflowing with waste.
Its desperate residents say the only foreign aid they've seen so far is a single water tank.
Paul Chapman, Reuters