An outbreak of diarrhoea, caused by cholera, has killed 41 people in the port city of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo (ROC) since the beginning of January, Health Minister Alphonse Gando said on Monday.
"Clinical observations and laboratory tests in Brazzaville have led us to conclude that a cholera epidemic has broken out in Pointe-Noire and surrounding areas," Gando said in a statement.
Pointe-Noire, ROC's second-largest city and the country's economic hub, is 500km south of Brazzaville and has a population of an estimated 800,000.
Gando said by Monday 1,236 cases of cholera, including 41 fatalities, had been reported.
To help residents of the cholera-affected area, the government has set up three large treatment centres providing free medical care.
Gando said the government had finalised arrangements with the United Nations World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund and international and local agencies to stem the spread of the disease. "The situation is already under control," the minister added.
see also: CONGO: UNDP gives 22.3 million francs to prevent epidemics
see also: TANZANIA: Zanzibar redoubles efforts to combat cholera
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