"It is spreading and we have to try to contain the number of cases and we have to try to contain the number of deaths," said Nigel Fisher, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.

"We do have cases in every department," Fisher added.

The United Nations and Haiti government has started a wider inquiry and Fisher told reporters at UN headquarters: "We do foresee a significant increase when we get more accurate data."

He predicted it would become "a very severe outbreak."

The Haitian Health Ministry's latest figures have spoken of 917 dead with more than 14,600 people treated in hospital. The UN coordinator said it was not unusual for hundreds of thousands of people to be hit by cholera in such an epidemic but added that many would be mild cases.

Fisher said the country's first cholera outbreak had gone beyond a health crisis.

"It is an issue of environmental concern, it is an issue obviously of national security where we have demonstrations starting already" against the location of cholera treatment centers.

One demonstration was held Monday in the city of Cap Haitien, Fisher said in a video-link press briefing from the capital, Port-au-Prince. The UN has started a campaign to try to convince the population that it is an advantage to have treatment centres nearby.

With UN and aid agencies still struggling to help the population after the January earthquake in which 250,000 people died, the United Nations has launched a new 148 million dollar appeal to contain the cholera epidemic.

Fisher said that on top of medical supplies and equipment, special training would be need to manage the cases and transport bodies.

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