Flood-related cholera kills 20

At least 20 people have died from cholera since heavy rains flooded parts of eastern and southern Malawi, news reports said on Wednesday. About 1,500 people had been treated for the waterborne disease, mainly in the border regions and in the central district around Lilongwe, the administrative capital.

According to the reports, health officials had run short of disinfectants for cleaning treatment centres, increasing the risk of the disease spreading further. Government officials were quoted as saying that further contamination was feared from Mozambicans crossing into Malawi to flee flooding in their home districts of Mutarara and Migaza, which
neighbour Malawi. The government said last week at least 200,000 Malawians had been affected by the rains that caused flooding and washed away crops in 13 of Malawi's 17 administrative districts.