About 8,000 cholera patients are also in hospitals, with growing concerns that the disease has spread to the capital Port-au-Prince.

An aid organisation said that it was treating at least 30 suspected cholera cases in the city.

The death toll from Hurricane Tomas has reached 20, with 36 injured and 11 missing, officials said.

The number of those killed by the cholera epidemic on Monday rose to 544 from 501 on November 7.

Authorities fear that the outbreak could worsen after Hurricane Tomas brought heavy rains last week.

Local authorities and relief agencies have been attempting to get clean drinking water to those areas worst- affected by the storm, which triggered flooding and mudslides.

There was flooding in Leogane, Les Cayes, Jacmel and Gonaives, while many mountain towns have been cut off by flooded roads and landslides.

The Artibonite River, believed to be a source of the outbreak of the epidemic in October, flooded over the weekend. People living along the river were asked to evacuate the area.

Health officials were examining at least 120 suspected cases of cholera in Port-au-Price on November 8, the executive director of the Haitian health ministry, Gabriel Timothee said.

If confirmed, the epidemic could threaten an estimated 2.5 to 3 million people in Port-au-Prince.