20100330
africanew

The cholera death toll in Zambia has risen from 11 to 49 since it was last reported on October 23, 2009. Health authorities in the southern African state say to date, 2514 cases of cholera have been recorded nationwide with Lusaka having the highest number of cases, followed by the mining region of Copperbelt and then southern Zambia.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Reuben Kamoto Mbewe told reporters the death toll had risen from 11 to 49 as at Monday, March 22, 2010.

Mbewe said, his department is working round the clock to ensure that the outbreak does not escalate and take a toll on more lives.

“I wish to state that as a way of controlling the spread of cholera, the Ministry of Health would like to discourage unnecessary public gathering which mostly raise health hazards,” he said.

Several parts of Zambia are under severe flooding following days of heavy rains.
Close to 1000 people in Lusaka alone have been evacuated from their usual habitants to a makeshift site on higher grounds outside the Independence Stadium, north of Lusaka.

Fears are growing that the rising population at the temporal campsite might spark a humanitarian crisis as demand for basic social and sanitary services continues to grow.

Zambia is yet to declare the flood surge a national disaster and win the support of the international community.

President Rupiah Banda’s administration has remained confident that it will handle the flood surge while the opposition continues to accuse government of failing Zambians by not declaring the floods a national disaster.