Cholera outbreak claims six lives, more deaths expected

Heavy rains have exacerbated a cholera outbreak in Zambia, where at least six people have died and more than a thousand cases have been recorded. Zambia's ministry of health confirmed on Wednesday that 1,144 cases of cholera have been reported since the outbreak began in August, with the numbers rising sharply in the last week. A ministry of health official told IRIN the epidemic was mainly concentrated in urban areas. "Most of the cholera cases are from [the capital] Lusaka. Cases are increasing everyday due to the sanitation and water problems we have at this time of the year [during the rainy season]," the official noted. Apart from the six confirmed cholera-related deaths, a further six deaths were still to be confirmed. The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had offered its support to the government in responding to the cholera outbreak. The health and local government ministries were in crisis talks on Wednesday in a bid to prevent a repeat of the 2004 cholera epidemic, which claimed over 100 lives. Last year the government closed large markets, such as Soweto in Lusaka, and restricted movement from areas affected by cholera. Poor water and sanitation facilities in both urban and rural areas were mainly to blame for the latest outbreak of cholera, the ministry of health said.