Zimbabwe cholera death toll rises

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-26-2008 10:41

The UN has released latest figures on cholera in Zimbabwe, with fifty deaths reported in the past day. This takes the death toll to 366 since August.

A man pushes his relative in a wheelbarrow to a Cholera Polyclinic, where victims of cholera are being treated in Harare, Zimbabwe.(AFP/Desmond Kwande)

And a leading doctor in Zimbabwe says the incidence of cholera in the country is under-reported and the death toll is likely to be higher.

The doctor said urgent prevention measures must be put in place as the UN warns the disease has spread to more than half of the country The World Health Organization says it fears the disease could spread further and has sent medicine to Zimbabwe.

Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water. It is thriving in Zimbabwe due to inadequate sewage and draining systems, absence of garbage collection and a lack of clean water.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei