Over 400 dead in regional cholera outbreak

HARARE, (CAJ News) –AT least 433 people have died from outbreaks of cholera ravaging Eastern and Southern Africa since the beginning of the year.

The deaths have been recorded from 36 820 cases of the water borne disease.

Affected countries include Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe accounts for a majority (28,6 percent) of the total case load reported this year, followed by Somalia at 17 percent.

An increase in the epidemic trend has been noted in the last two weeks in Zimbabwe.

During the past week, 144 new cases including three deaths were reported compared to 31 cases reported in the previous week, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

These new cases emerged from the capital Harare, which recorded 50 cases and no deaths, and Mt Darwin district in Mashonaland Central (94 cases including 3 deaths).

Cumulatively, a total of 10 529 cases including 64 deaths have been
reported in 2018.

A majority of these cases (10 and 58 deaths) have been reported since the beginning of the new wave of the outbreak on September 5.

Poor sanitation experienced in Zimbabwe’s major cities has been blamed for the recurrent outbreaks.

More than 4 000 people died during the Southern African country’s worst cholera outbreak ten years ago.

Zimbabwe is reeling under economic sanctions jointly imposed by the United States of America (USA) and European Union (EU) following its land reform program.

Source