UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned yesterday that Haiti was struggling to cope with a cholera epidemic that has killed thousands and deteriorating conditions in tent camps as aid groups withdraw from the impoverished country due to a lack of funding. In a report to the U.N. Security Council, Ban said there had been an increase in the number of cholera cases since the rainy season began in early March and the World Health Organization had projected there could be up to 112,000 cases during 2012. The cholera outbreak has sickened almost 600,000 people and killed more than 7,400 in the Caribbean nation since October 2010. Some Haitians accused Nepalese U.N. troops of sparking the epidemic after their camp latrines contaminated a river. “The resurgence of the cholera outbreak is particularly worrying since non-governmental organizations which responded at the beginning of the epidemic are phasing out due to lack of funding,” Ban said.
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