Number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe reaches 80,000

February 22, 2009 According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a cholera epidemic in the African country of Zimbabwe has now infected over 80,200 people. The epidemic is the worst cholera outbreak in Africa for fifteen years.

The United Nations agency stated that approximately half of all the patients that died of the disease did not reach any of the 365 cholera treatment centers located in the country.

Since the outbreak began in August of last year, over 80,000 people have been infected and 3,759 people have died from the disease in Zimbabwe as of February 19. That compared with 3,172 deaths out of 78,882 cases that were recorded as of Tuesday.

The WHO said that the epidemic has spread to nearby states, with significant numbers of cases reported in Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

South Africa, which is Zimbabwe's neighbor to the south, also reported incidents of cholera, but has managed to limit the number of fatalities to less than 1% out of all people infected.