Haiti cholera likely from UN troops, expert says

(AP) -- A French disease expert says there is strong evidence linking U.N. peacekeepers to a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed more than 2,000 people.

Renaud Piarroux says in a report that the most likely explanation for the outbreak is that Haiti's Artibonite river was contaminated by a base of U.N. troops from Nepal.

The scientist conducted his research on behalf of the French and Haitian governments. The Associated Press obtained the report on Tuesday.

Cholera had not been detected in Haiti until late October. Nearly 100,000 people have been infected so far. The U.N. has denied that its peacekeepers were to blame for the outbreak.