Cholera cases in Zimbabwe climb to 60,000

MORE than 60,000 people in Zimbabwe have been infected with cholera as the epidemic continues to spread.

Experts predicted that the crisis would peak at 60,000 but the UN humanitarian affairs agency said today 60,401 cases had been confirmed and 3,161 deaths recorded.

They believe many more have been infected without being counted because so few Zimbabweans are able to get to hospitals.

The outbreak began in August and swept the country, coinciding with a nearly five-month long strike by doctors and nurses who are demanding salaries in foreign currency.

In early December, president Robert Mugabe's government declared the cholera epidemic a national emergency, paving the way for aid from international groups such as Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, and the UN Children's Fund.

But their assistance has not yet improved the situation and the disease has since spread to new areas.

Elisabeth Byrs, of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said: "The humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe is acute and worsening. Aid is more necessary than ever. This is a critical moment."

The UN has appealed to donors to provide urgently needed aid to Zimbabwe, where it is trying to feed about 5.5 million people reeling from dwindling food supplies and hyperinflation but has yet to receive any contributions from donor countries, she said.

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