Cholera outbreak claim five lives

Five people have died and more than 200 admitted to hospital in a cholera outbreak on the outskirts of Djibouti city, AFP reported. A hospital official told AFP that more than half the hospital cases were children. A special facility has been set up in a tent near the Peltier hospital, and French doctors working in Djibouti have been asked for assistance in tackling the outbreak. Most of the victims come from the impoverished district of Balbala and use poorly stored water, reported the agency. Unsanitary conditions and malnutrition have contributed to the outbreak of cholera among Balbala’s residents, who are mostly refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia, and destitute nomads, said AFP.