February 1, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

CHOLERA EPIDEMIC CLAIMS MORE LIVES

LONDON, February 1, Graphic News: A cholera epidemic gripping South Africa has killed three more people over the past 24 hours in KwaZulu-Natal province, bringing the total number of deaths since August to 82, health authorities said on Wednesday.

More than 1,000 new infections have been reported, bringing the number of cases since the outbreak of the disease in August to 32,742, the health department in KwaZulu-Natal said.

The number of new infections has doubled over the past few days but the department said it had intensified its education campaign to try to contain the spread of the disease.

ÒThe large increase in daily infections is of great concern to the department of health but is not entirely unexpected as this is the time of year when cholera cases peak,Ó it said.

Cholera, which has afflicted humans for more than 2,000 years, is largely eradicated from industrial nations. Yet epidemics still plague parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, where water supplies are often contaminated. 

Of the 254,310 cases and 9,175 deaths reported to the World Health Organization last year, 206,746 and 8,728 respectively were in Africa.

South Africa reported 68 cases and two fatalities in the year to March 31, 2000.

The cholera bacterium, which can live in brackish water and estuaries, attacks the human intestine and can cause death by severe dehydration.
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Sources: Reuters, World Health Organization