Raging cholera killed 50 people and left more than 2,000 others sick in southern Zimbabwe last week, a provincial newspaper reported Monday, quoting health authorities. Ilanga newspaper said the deaths occured in Matabeleland South Province, one of the regions hardest hit by a raging cholera outbreak in the country. The province, made up of the border town of Beitbridge where at least 36 people have died of the disease, prompting neighbouring South Africa to step up assistance to ensure the cholera outbreak does not spread to its towns. Virtually every region in Zimbabwe has been gripped by cholera, with the capital Harare registering 40 deaths and hundreds of infections in the last few weeks.
Poor sanitation and a strike for better pay by medical staff countrywide, has worsened the problem. In all, more than 200 people have been killed by cholera in Zimbabwe in the last few weeks, making it the worst outbreak in the country’s history.
