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Cholera outbreak in Zim
18/02/2007 10:27 - (SA)
Harare - Three people have died from cholera in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, reports said on Sunday.
The three, who included a 75-year-old woman, were all residents in the poor suburb of Epworth on the outskirts of the city, the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper said.
News of the deaths only emerged last week, and it was not clear when the victims had died.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told the paper the deaths were likely to have partly been due to the intermittent water supplies, which the area has been receiving in the past few weeks.
"The three are the only cases we have received so far, as the ministry is in control of the situation," Parirenyatwa said.
The deaths are the first fatalities reported since an outbreak of cholera in January, which saw 19 Harare residents hospitalized from the diarrhoeal disease.
Most of Harare's suburbs have been hit by severe water cuts. Some suburbs have gone for weeks without piped water. Residents are sometimes forced to collect water from shallow, unprotected wells, which aid the spread of the disease.
- SAPA
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