Cholera outbreak confirmed - 8 dead

Cholera, a disease associated with poor sanitation and access to potable water has claimed eight lives in a suburb of the Angolan capital, Luanda.

The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) said that 40 cases of the highly contagious disease, spread through contaminated water or food, were reported in the last few days in the Boavista shantytown located to the north of the capital.

Cholera's main symptoms include vomiting and watery diarrhoea, which, if left untreated, can cause severe dehydration and death.

The provincial government of Luanda and the Angolan Ministry of Health were alerted after an increase in diarrhoea cases were reported at a local health centre. Subsequent epidemiological surveys confirmed the existence of the cholera bacteria.

Boavista is renowned among Luandans for its appalling living conditions. Mud huts and corrugated iron structures are perched precariously on piles of rubbish. There is no supply of potable water and few homes can boast a latrine. WHO has described the area as "totally unhealthy".

The provincial government has set up a cholera unit at the local health centre and is endeavouring to provide a chlorine solution and clean water to the suburb's estimated 10,000 inhabitants.

The authorities in Angola, which just last year endured an outbreak of the Marburg haemorrhagic fever, which claimed more than 300 lives, are also calling on people to use gloves when treating cholera patients and maintain personal hygiene.

Government, UN agencies and NGOs such as Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have joined forces to monitor and control the outbreak.