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Diarrhoea kills 20 kids in Zim
06/07/2007 11:54 - (SA)
Harare - At least 20 children have died from a diarrhoea outbreak in a Zimbabwe mining town after drinking suspected contaminated water, said reports.
It was reported that the children were from the mining town of Kadoma, about 140km west of Harare.
The reports said: "At least 20 children aged between one and five years have died in the past two weeks in Kadoma, owing to an acute diarrhoea outbreak that has also affected adults, although no fatalities has been recorded among adults."
Urban areas in Zimbabwe were struggling to provide services to residents as a result of ageing infrastructure - including burst sewer pipes - and foreign currency shortages that had hampered importation of raw materials such as water treatment chemicals.
Lack of clean water
Wenselaus Nyamayaro, a provincial medical director in the area, said: "The town (Kadoma) has been hit by an outbreak of diarrhoea for the past two weeks, but we worked hard to isolate E coli (bacteria) and we can now safely say the situation is under control."
It was reported that investigations had established that the outbreak was caused by a lack of sufficient clean water in the town, which had a population of about 800 000.
According to reports, some townships in Kadoma had not been supplied with water for six months.
Earlier this year, several people contracted cholera in two Harare townships after drinking contaminated water from shallow wells due to a breakdown in municipal services.
Spiralling prices have pushed inflation in Zimbabwe above 4 500%, the highest in the world, underscoring an eight-year economic recession that had ravaged urban workers and sparked foreign currency, fuel and food shortages.
- Reuters
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