Cholera death toll rises

The death toll in South Africa’s cholera epidemic rose to 73 on Tuesday. Reuters reported the health department in eastern KwaZulu Natal province - the centre of the outbreak - as saying that 852 new cases had been reported by Monday, bringing the total to 25,814 since the outbreak began in the region in August. The department said it could not rule out the spread of the disease to other areas, adding the high level of new infections was unlikely to drop over the February and March “cholera season”. The disease has already spread to the industrial heartland of Johannesburg with one death reported last week in the sprawling township of Tembisa. A WHO team of epidemiologists, working with the department of health has made a number of recommendations to assess control measures taken so far and to plan further activities to limit the spread of the outbreak. The WHO team noted the strong commitment of health personnel in the affected areas and their effective case management of patients which is reflected in the low fatality rate of less than 0.5 percent, a WHO statement said. No special restrictions on travel to and from KwaZulu Natal are warranted, it added. Cholera has also been reported elsewhere in southern Africa, including Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For more information see: http://www.who.int/emc/diseases/cholera/index.html