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| February
18, 2001 |
| Cholera
Epidemic Kills More Than 100 In South Africa |
The
Associated Press
DURBAN,
South Africa - South Africa's worst cholera epidemic in more than 15 years has
killed 111 people and sickened more than 50,000 others since last August, health
authorities said Friday.
More than 1,500 people were diagnosed with the
disease over a 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday alone, raising the number
sickened in the epidemic to 50,614, the provincial health department in KwaZulu-Natal
said.
A 6-year-old and two adults were the epidemic's latest victims,
authorities said.
The cholera epidemic is South Africa's worst since the
early 1980s, when more than 105,400 people contracted the highly contagious waterborne
disease over a four-year period. More than 340 people died in four consecutive
epidemics.
Cholera, which causes severe diarrhea, can only be controlled
by providing rural residents with clean drinking water and sanitation, the World
Health Organization has said.
Recent studies show that 21 million South
Africans lack access to sanitation and at least 8 million do not have access to
clean drinking water. Many rely on river water for cooking, drinking and washing.
Authorities urged South Africans to purify the water by boiling it or adding bleach.
The government has allocated $82.5 million for water and sanitation for
KwaZulu-Natal province, Water Affairs Minister Ronnie Kasrils told Parliament
earlier this week.
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