Less than a month after the emergence of Haiti's first cholera outbreak in half a century, the confirmed number of fatalities is at 917 and rising by more than 50 each day on average.

At least 27 deaths have been recorded in the teeming capital Port-au-Prince, including its largest slum Cite Soleil.

Officials fear the scale of the epidemic could increase exponentially if cholera infiltrates makeshift camps where hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors live in cramped and unsanitary conditions.

And with patients struggling to find care in the rural heart of the country where the outbreak is fiercest, it is hard to imagine how Haiti can vote in crucial elections in less than two weeks time.

But Mirlande Manigats, the former first lady who has emerged as the favorite to succeed President Rene Preval, told AFP the polls must go ahead as planned.

"We are now at the point where we cannot step back because there is a momentum within the population. It's clear that on February 7, President Preval must leave, so we need to have the election now, on November 28."

Another candidate, Leslie Voltaire, agreed with Manigats that it was not ideal with the cholera epidemic, not to mention a recent hurricane, but warned that delaying the poll would only aggravate the situation.

"We cannot postpone the election because of the cholera. You don't know, if you postpone the election by a month or two, the cholera may be worse than it is today," he told AFP.

"We could face a new political crisis in Haiti if we have another provisional government after Preval," Voltaire added.

The elections, which will also see over 100 lawmakers chosen, were originally scheduled for February 28 but were put on hold due to the January earthquake that flattened Port-au-Prince and killed more than 250,000 people.

Whoever wins will have the mammoth task of rebuilding what was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere -- a Caribbean nation facing vast challenges even to get back to where it was before disaster struck.

Problems of corruption, infrastructure and education have now been compounded by the cholera epidemic, which UN health officials are warning has taken root and could see hundreds of thousands of cases in the next few years.

"All of the hospitals in Port-au-Prince are overflowing with patients and we're seeing seven times the total amount of cases we had three days ago," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) head of mission Stefano Zannini said this weekend.

"It's a really worrying situation for us at the moment. Patients are coming from everywhere, throughout the city, slums and wealthier areas."

Almost 15,000 people have been treated in hospital and many in rural areas near the epicenter of outbreak in the central Artibonite River Valley did not even make it that far, dying en route.

"Certainly this is going to continue for months, and if you look at other epidemics, it could move into years," UN humanitarian coordinator Nigel Fisher told AFP. "We're in unknown territory here in Haiti."

Of Haiti's 10 provinces, six now have been touched by the cholera epidemic.

The United Nations is asking for 164 million dollars to fight the disease, most to be used for water, sanitation and improving hygiene awareness.

Although easily treated, cholera has a short incubation period and causes acute diarrhea that can lead to severe dehydration and death in a matter of hours.

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