Death toll hits 90 in Zimbabwe cholera outbreak

Friday, November 21, 2008 at 8:11 am

An 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, officials have said. At least 37 people have died in Beitbridge, a town on the border with South Africa, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said on national radio yesterday November 20.

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 yesterday.

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.

A South African truck driver was found with cholera in Durban, after he returned from Zimbabwe at the weekend, provincial health official Leon Mbangwa said.

Zimbabwe’s health system, once among the best in Africa, has collapsed under the weight of the world’s highest inflation rate, last estimated at 231 million percent in July.

Cholera is endemic in parts of rural Zimbabwe, but had been rare in the cities, where most homes have piped water and flush toilets.

But after years of economic crisis, the nation’s infrastructure is breaking down, leaving many people without access to clean water or proper sanitation.

(With Inputs From agencies)

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Death toll hits 90 in Zimbabwe cholera outbreak

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