Clinics swamped by cholera victims

Over burdened Swaziland hospitals have been forced to set up emergency tented cholera wards to cope with a flood of rural diarrhoea cases that resulted in eight deaths over the past three weeks, SABC radio reported on Wednesday. Swaziland's medical services director John Mbambo was quoted as saying that rural clinics in the country's eastern Kalanga and Lubombo districts had been swamped by villagers suffering from severe diarrhoea.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Phetsile Dlamini said that the cholera outbreak was caused by an epidemic in the neighbouring South Africa province of KwaZulu-Natal, where an estimated 63 people have died and additional 17,500 have been infected. "We have held emergency meetings with villagers in border regions to educate people on the best ways to avoid cholera," said Dlamini.