Cholera Outbreak in Malawi Kills One
Date: 12-Dec-05
Country: MALAWI
"The figures are cumulative, it started last week with 31 cases of cholera and today we are talking about 51. The disease yesterday claimed one 7-year-old boy," said Dedza district health officer Isyu Mwakasungura.
"We are surprised that the outbreak has come at such a rate. We did not have this last season," he told Reuters.
The first 10 cases were reported last week in the resort district of Mangochi, 185 km (110 miles) from the commercial city of Blantyre.
Mwakasungura suspected the disease is spreading because of contaminated water as most the villages affected lie on the Lake Malawi coastline.
Meanwhile, the minister of health with support from the UN children's agency UNICEF has mounted mobile clinics in the districts and sent drugs to curb the spread of the deadly disease.
"Government is in control of the situation. Drugs have been moved to the affected areas and signs of the situation being put under control are evident," Deputy Minister of Health Charles Mchacha told Reuters.
AIDS-stricken Malawi is also grappling with feeding almost half of its estimated 12 million people after a drought last year hit crop production.
