Zimbabwe cholera cases rise above 40,000
Posted: 14 January 2009 1707 hrs

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GENEVA : Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic, which has killed over 2,000, has claimed 81 more lives and the total number of cases now stands at 40,448, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

The death toll has now reached 2,106 since August while 1,642 new cases were added on in a single day, it said.

On Tuesday, WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told AFP: "The epidemic is still not under control," adding that the rainy season was aggravating the contagion since the disease is transmitted by contaminated water.

The Zimbabwean capital Harare remains the worst-hit region, with 238 deaths and 126 new cases recorded, bringing the total number of patients to 10,939.

The Beitbridge area, which borders South Africa, has the second largest number of diagnosed cases with some 4,282 people infected, including seven new cases recorded in the latest report. - AFP/ms