294 dead from cholera in Zim

2008-11-20 19:41

Washington - The US ambassador to Harare, James McGee, said on Thursday a total of 294 people have been confirmed dead from cholera in Zimbabwe, amid about 1 200 cases of the water-borne disease.

"The water situation, sanitation situation has gone through the ceiling," McGee told reporters in Washington via a satellite hookup from Harare.

"There are over 1 200 confirmed cases of cholera and another 2 500 unconfirmed cases of cholera," McGee said, adding that the death toll had risen to 294, which is higher than the official toll.

Officials in Harare said the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe over the last month has now claimed at least 90 lives, including three deaths of Zimbabweans across the border in South Africa.

At least 37 people have died in Beitbridge, a town on the border with South Africa, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said on national radio.

Three Zimbabweans have died across the border in the South African town of Musina, officials there said.

Another 37 people have died in the capital Harare, while a new outbreak in the central town of Gweru has killed 13 people, state media said on Thursday.

Doctors Without Borders warned on Tuesday that 1.4 million people are at risk of the disease in Harare alone, and cases of cholera have been detected as far away as Durban, on South Africa's southeastern coast.

- AFP