steve harrigan just returned from haiti. he is live in our south florida newsroom tonight. steve?ard, this is the exact scenario that medical workers were fighting to prevent. the epidemic of cholera is now inside the capital city of port-au-prince. it's a city of 3 million people, half of whom are homeless. sanitary conditions were bad there before hurricane tomas with the flooding. since that hurricane, they are much worse now. as of this morning there was one confirmed case inside the capital. already now 73 confirmed cases. a few hundred suspected cases. these numbers are going to go up and up. right now more than 580 people across haiti have been killed by cholera. 9,000 infected. it's a water born disease. water contaminated by human feces. it can kill you in a day through dye dehydration. basically the body shuts down from vomiting and from watery diarrhea simple cures in most countries for this rehydration and water purification tablets. for many haitians that's not available. we have seen aid workers going through the camps with mega phones saying wash your hands. don't d

steve harrigan has been following this story from our miami bureau. eve. >> reporter: this is really the worst case scenario, a lot of health workers and aid workers have been worried about it, one confirmed case of cholera in court de prince. it's a 3-year-old boy. the numbers are expected to rise. san tear reconditions have got even worse from the heavy rains from hurricane tomas. tens of thousands of people are living in horrible conditions in tents. the epidemic has killed 500 people and affected 8,000. chlorea is a water born disease, it's spread by water with fecal matter. it can kill as quickly as one day with vomiting and diarrhea until the body shuts down. in most parts of the world it is easily treated with a simple rehydration program of salt, water and sugar. for many haitains these things simply are not a shraeubl. weave -- available. we've seen aid workers going through the town saying wash your hands. don't drink water from the canal. bottled water is simply out of reach for most as is a bathroom. jenna: for more on this epidemic in hate