Report links Haiti's cholera to Nepalese peacekeepers

Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic was most likely caused by Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers whose toilets contaminated a river, according to a French disease expert.

Many Haitians have long suspected the Nepalese troops, leading to angry demonstrations and riots.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report by epidemiologist Renaud Piarroux, who investigated the outbreak for the Haitian and French governments. He concluded that it originated at the peacekeepers' base outside Mirebalais, along a tributary to Haiti's Artibonite River. The strain of cholera matched one from South Asia, although it's also found in Latin America

AP said the report was leaked by an international official who released it on condition of anonymity. Piarroux declined to discuss his findings.

The U.N. mission in Haiti said that there was "no conclusive evidence" that peacekeepers were the source of the epidemic, adding that it was taking Piarroux's report "very seriously" but that it was "one report among many," the BBC writes.

So far, 2,120 people have died, and nearly 100,000 cases of cholera have been treated.

(Posted by Michael Winter)