The Zimbabwean Ministry of Health announced that the worst African cholera outbreak in 15 years has ended after 10 months. However, with the rainy season approaching in late October, international aid organizations warned that another epidemic is likely to hit the country.
“The epidemic has successfully been contained and has ended,” Zimbabwe’s Health Minister Henry Madzorera was quoted by the state-run Herald newspaper
Red Cross and United Nations officials warned Thursday that another outbreak could come, noting that no real improvements have been made to the country’s dilapidated water and sanitation systems.
They also issued a call to neighboring countries to take preparatory steps in order to mitigate the spread of the disease, should it strike again.
Since the end of last year, cholera — an intestinal disease that is transmitted through dirty water — affected approximately 100,000 people and killed over 4,200 in Africa.
“Our concern is that the issues that drove the outbreak — the worst outbreak in 15 years in Africa — have not been addressed in any way,” Matthew Cochrane of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
Source: Earth Times and The Herald (Zimbabwe)