SANTO DOMINGO, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) — The death toll of the cholera epidemic in Haiti on Monday rose to 544 and some 8,000 people infected had been hospitalized, the Haitian Health Ministry said.

According to information reaching here from Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, the Haitian Health Ministry said that daily average of deaths increased to 32 deaths each 24 hours, since the epidemic started on Oct. 20.

Meanwhile, the hurricane Tomas worsened the sanitary situation, as about 2,000 had to be evacuated.

The Health Ministry said that in the west of the country, 20 people have been killed by cholera. While the Aribonite River, which is the source of the cholera, overflowed, so it is expected that the situation becomes worse.

The Haitian authorities launched an international campaign to face this epidemic, which has mainly affected Artibonite and Plateau Central but began to spread across the country due to hurricane Tomas.