The epidemiological situation in the DRC continues to deteriorate, the UN Humanitarian Coordination Unit in Kinshasa said in a report received by IRIN on Wednesday. It said a cholera epidemic in Kitshanga, some 72 km north of Goma, had resulted in 11 registered deaths, with a total of 208 cases reported. Another 25 cases were reported in Pinga, 150 km northwest of Goma, between 17 May and 13 June, with a 20 percent mortality rate recorded, it said. The Bunia area of Province Orientale had also been “seriously affected” by cholera since end May, but a military garrison at the centre of the epidemic had so far been inaccessible to humanitarian agencies. Medical kits and chlorine supplies were badly needed in Bunia, where a WHO-sponsored water quality control project was already underway, the report added.
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