12 dead, 337 ill in Bunia cholera epidemic

At least 12 people have died and 337 are infected in a cholera epidemic in Bunia, Ituri District, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rival ethnic militias have bee fighting for control. "These figures should drop following the intervention of health teams," Doudou Luemba of the UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF) emergency department, told IRIN on Thursday. The agency, which provided these figures, reported the epidemic to have been running for three months now. It had been triggered by "the sabotage" in August of a water installation point, which had now been repaired. UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies have continued to provide the affected area with aid. UNICEF has rented an aircraft to deliver 89 mt of non-food items, water purification materials, and medicines to fight the epidemic in Bunia. UNICEF employees in the eastern part of the country have been sent to the affected areas to supervise emergency aid distributions. Some humanitarian bodies have reported difficulty in reaching people in need of help.