SOUTH AFRICA: Thousands stream into South Africa as Zimbabwe cholera outbreak death toll nearing 500, according to WHO

Record ID: 452383

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Thousands stream into South Africa as Zimbabwe cholera outbreak death toll nearing 500, according to WHO
  • Date: 3rd December 2008
  • Summary: WOMEN SITTING WITH CHILDREN OUTSIDE
  • Embargoed: 18th December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAEERMXOLW87JMCLUHRIW1N0LM4
  • Story Text: The death toll from Zimbabwe's worst recorded cholera epidemic has risen to nearly 500, according to the World Health Organisation, a sign of a rapidly deepening crisis. Thousands flee to South Africa for treatment.
    A cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has killed nearly 500 people in the biggest outbreak recorded recently in the crisis-torn country, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday (December 2).
    The spread of cholera, normally a preventable and treatable disease, signals a collapse in the once relatively prosperous African nation, where President Robert Mugabe and the opposition are squabbling over how to implement a power-sharing agreement.
    The WHO said most regions of Zimbabwe were reporting infections, with the fatality rate reaching up to 50 percent in some areas. It reported 473 deaths and 11,700 total infections.
    Zimbabwean rights groups estimate that up to 1,000 people have died from the disease. The water delivery system has broken down in Harare and other cities, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.
    Hundreds of Zimbabweans are crossing the South African border each day to seek medical attention, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said in a statement. It called on Mugabe's government to declare a national disaster.
    The sixth death from the cholera outbreak was registered early this week at the Northern South African town of Musina just 10 kilometres from the Zimbabwean border.
    Refugees like Steve said they fled to South Africa because it was impossible to get clean water in Zimbabwe.

    "The condition is not fine, it's not fine. The source of water is just to go to the river which flowed," Steve said.
    The Limpopo Provincial Department of Health in South Africa also confirmed the presence of cholera in the Limpopo river.
    Health and NGO officials say the situation on the South African side is currently under control, but expect it to worsen over the next few weeks with the coming of the rainy season to the region.
    Save the Children estimates that 1800 Zimbabweans cross into South Africa daily, and the Refugee centre in Musina has 1000-2000 Zimbabweans queuing for asylum papers each day.
    The Department of Home Affairs says they have received nearly 40,000 asylum seekers from Zimbabwe in the last 4 months.
    Matthew Cochrane, spokesman for the International Federation of the Red Cross, said people are fleeing to South Africa for vital supplies.

    "Once the bacteria does get into the water supply or gets into the food chain, its very hard to contain without those basics, without the rehydration fluid, and without clean water, people have to be able to act on the information they are given, they have to actually be able to be hygienic, and to do that they need the basics. And in Zimbabwe that is increasingly difficult to come across," he said.
    The European Commission said it would provide 9 million euros to U.N.
    and non-governmental organisations working in Zimbabwe to support water, sanitation and hygiene services, epidemic control efforts and provision of essential drugs.
    Zimbabwe has the world's highest modern-day inflation, officially at 231 million percent but estimated to be much worse with prices doubling every 24 hours. Food is in short supply and limits on cash withdrawals mean few can get enough money to buy a loaf of bread. Power cuts are frequent.
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