Number of people affected by cholera reaches 88,000 in Zimbabwe, says UN

Some 88,000 people have now been affected by cholera in Zimbabwe, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced today, noting that the number of new cases reported weekly is dropping.

At the start of the year, as many as 8,000 new cases were being reported per week at the national level, but over the past few weeks, that number has been slashed by half.

According to a joint update by the WHO and the Government of Zimbabwe, 395 new cases and 18 deaths were reported yesterday.

Nearly 4,000 people have died from the disease, which is caused by contaminated food or water, the agency said.

But WHO cautioned that the need to remain alert continues since cholera continues to claim lives in the Southern African nation on a daily basis. It also warned that the start of the rainy season could also trigger increased cases of the disease.