Cholera closes Zambian market
2004-01-29 13:46
Lusaka - A cholera outbreak has forced the Zambian government to shut down the country's largest market in Lusaka, it announced in a statement Thursday.
"Due to the current outbreak of cholera in the city, you are hereby notified that Soweto market has been declared an infected area," local government minister Sylvia Masebo said in a media statement.
Soweto, an over-crowded market in the centre of the capital, is mainly used by farmers and traders from all over the southern African country to sell produce at low prices.
Masebo said the market would be closed from Tuesday next week to allow the government to carry out "remedial measures", and urged traders to try to sell all their produce before then.
Zambia has been struggling to deal with an increasing number of cases of the water-borne disease following an outbreak in November.
The health ministry said at the beginning of January that nearly 500 cholera cases and 11 deaths had been reported since November.
- AFP