Around 200 people have died and more than 2,300 others have taken ill from a growing epidemic of cholera in central Haiti, sparking fears that the contagious illness could reach outdoor camps housing hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors around the southern capital.

The outbreak is located in the central region of Artibonite, which is currently home to thousands of people who survived the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince.

Authorities have also confirmed two cases of the disease in the town of Arcahaie, which lies closer to the quake-ravaged capital.

Most of the quake survivors in the Artibonite region have been accepted into communities and are not living outdoors. But health officials are worried that the illness could infect the sprawling outdoor camps in and around the capital, which house hundreds of thousands of quake survivors.

"It will be very, very dangerous," the president of the Haitian Medical Association, Claude Surena, told The Associated Press. "Port-au-Prince already has more than 2.4 million people, and the way they are living is dangerous enough already."

A spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 194 people had died, and confirmed 2,364 cases of cholera.

At St. Nicholas hospital in the seaside town of St. Marc, about 45 kilometres northwest of the Haitian capital, hundreds of sick people are waiting for treatment in the parking lot.

The son of 55-year-old Jille Sanatus, who succumbed to the illness on the hospital's floor, said his family had been drinking from a river that flowed from the country's central plateau.

On Friday, Health Minister Alex Larsen said the river had tested positive for cholera.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned through a spokesperson that sick patients and the remains of the dead were not being quarantined properly.

Spread of suspected cases

The International Medical Corps was looking in to possible cases of cholera in a suburb of the capital called Croix-des-Bouquet. There were also two dozen cases of diarrhea on Gonave island, according to radio reports.

Michel Thieren of the Pan-American Health Organization said hospitals currently have enough IV bags to treat the most severe cholera cases, but will need more supplies in the near future.

"Most of the cases can be done with oral treatment, but here we have a significant number that require IV treatment," he said

Aid workers say they are rushing supplies in to the area to treat those who have fallen ill. But Haitian Medical Association president Claude Surena said local residents will need to be vigilant about washing their hands to prevent further spread of illness.

"The concern is that it could go from one place to another place, and it could affect more people or move from one region to another one," he said.

Cholera, a waterborne bacterial infection that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea, can kill within hours and has the potential to spread rapidly in areas with poor sanitation.

Haiti hasn't been hit by an outbreak of cholera in more than half a century. But experts have been warning that poor access to clean water since the January quake has made such an outbreak more likely.

Belismene Jean Baptiste, a 70-year-old Artibonite resident, told The Associated Press that he fell ill after drinking water from a public canal.

"I ran to the bathroom four times last night vomiting," he said during an interview at a hospital in St. Marc.

Canada's reaction

Ottawa says it will "provide essential support" of up to $1 million in provisions to help counter the epidemic.

"Canada is concerned by the loss of life and the risk of this serious medical crisis spreading into further communities," the Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement Friday evening.

Opposition parties and members of the Haitian-Canadian community has been pushing for Ottawa to put to use aid money pledged to the Caribbean country.

"It is a matter of getting those resources pushed out," New Democrat MP Paul Dewar said from Ottawa.

With a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin and files from The Associated Press