Study traces Haitian cholera to South Asian origin

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Scientists reported Thursday the strongest evidence yet that a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti can be traced to South Asia.

The analysis fits with, but does not prove, the controversial idea that the disease came from U.N. troops dispatched from that region.

DNA analysis found that cholera bacteria recovered in Haiti were nearly identical to strains predominant in South Asia, and different from those found in Latin America, researchers said.

That indicates that cholera was introduced by people, rather than arriving through ocean currents or arising within Haiti, as has been suggested, said Harvard researcher …