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Jan 28, 2009, 13:46 GMT

Zimbabwe cholera outbreak races ahead; more than 3,000 dead

Geneva - Nearly two months after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe declared that the cholera outbreak in his country had been 'arrested' the number of dead continues to climb, passing 3,000 this week, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. As of Tuesday, 3,028 people had died and 57,702 become infected with the waterborne diarrhoeal disease. That's 273 more dead and 9,079 more cases of infection than the last OCHA update six days ago. The spread of cholera in Zimbabwe has been abetted by the arrival last month of the summer rainy reason. Heavy seasonal rains cause flooding that washes pollution, including faeces, into water sources. While the World Health Organization, the government and aid agencies working together have been able to tame the outbreak in some of the crowded townships where it started in August, the disease is now said to be gaining ground in rural areas. In early December, Mugabe said there was 'no more cholera' in Zimbabwe that could be used by the West as a pretext for invading the troubled country. His government later maintained he was being ironic. The cholera outbreak was sparked by the simultaneous breakdown of the water supply, refuse collection and sewerage systems in Harare. The three factors combined created the unhygienic conditions in which cholera thrives.

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