New cholera outbreak reported in Zimbabwe

A fresh cholera outbreak has been reported in Zimbabwe. Although only ten cases have been confirmed, NGOs are on high alert. Between August 2008 and June 2009 a cholera epidemic, which started small, killed over 4000 people and infected almost 100.000.

The areas that are affected include the Chiredzi District in Masvingo Province and the Chipinge in Manicaland Province, press agency AFP reported. The new epidemic comes barely a few months after the previous outbreak - which saw 4276 people dead and almost 100.000 infected between august 2008 and May 2009. In June, the number of new infections was still growing, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported. However, the organization underlined that this growth had decreased from over 8 000 new cases per week at the beginning of February 2009 to about 100 cases per week at the end of May 2009. "The weekly Case Fatality Rate has also decreased from its peak of near 6% in January 2009, to 1.5% for the week ending 30 May 2009," the WHO stated in a media release. Cholera is an acute infectious intestinal disease that is transmitted through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacterium. The enterotoxin that is produced by the bacteria cause a copious, painless, watery diarrhea that can, if left untreated, lead to severe dehydration and death. Local health authorities in Zimbabwe, however, are rejecting fears of the past repeating itself. "We always have sporadic cases in this area, so there is really nothing to shout or panic about at this stage," Health Minister Henry Madzorera told journalists. "We will just have to make sure that we have adequate supplies for these few cases as we go along." "The situation is under control, as we have deployed personnel to the affected areas and the situation is under control”, a senior health official said furthermore in an interview with the Zimbabwe Times. “It would appear the disease is spreading from the neighbouring Mozambique”. Earlier this year, the United Nations warned that cholera was likely to strike Zimbabwe again, due to a collapsed health sector and deteriorated water and sanitary services. Zimbabwe's capital Harare for instance, has been struggling with water shortages for a long time. Some parts of the city have been without water for two years. Other large cities are facing similar issues.