Diseases threaten flood-hit Muzarabani

The floods that hit the northeastern Muzarabani region last week pose a serious health threat, raising fears of a major cholera and malaria outbreak in the Zambezi valley, the independent 'Daily News' said on Wednesday. Goldberg Mangwadu, the provincial environmental health officer in Mashonaland Central was quoted as saying that health personnel were last week deployed to the Zambezi valley to assess the health needs of the flood-hit areas. "The floods provide breeding ground for mosquitoes while all the water sources such as boreholes were washed away, raising fears of a cholera outbreak because the people have no alternative for clean water sources," said Mangwadu. Meanwhile, Madzudzo Pawadyira, the director of the National Civil Protection Unit was quoted as saying that donor funds had started to trickle in for the flood victims. "We have dispatched vehicles that provide water purification tablets to avoid a possible outbreak of diarrhoeal and cholera diseases," said Pawadyira.