Zimbabwe declares cholera emergency in Harare after death toll rises to 20

A nurse takes care of a cholera patient during an action, organised by Zimbabwe Minister of Health, at the cholera treatment centre of the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital, in Harare, on September 11, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Zimbabwe declared a cholera outbreak in the capital Harare after 20 people died from the disease.

The country's new Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo, confirmed that more than 2,000 people were infected by drinking contaminated water. The latest cholera outbreak came after burst sewers in Budiriro and Glenview suburbs contaminated water used by residents, said Moyo.

Glenview resident Sherry Muchambaya said she was "fed up" and blamed the council for not doing enough, saying "the council does not attend to these landfill sites and the member of parliament is hardly here."

Harare city council has struggled to supply water to some suburbs for more than a decade, forcing residents to rely on water from open wells and community boreholes.

Zimbabwe suffered its biggest cholera outbreak in 2008 at the height of an economic crisis when more than 4,000 people died and another 40,000 were treated after being infected.

(Source: Reuters)


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