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Race against time to contain outbreak of cholera in Mozambique in wake of Cyclone Idai

THE death toll from last month’s Cyclone Idai, which flattened and flooded large swathes of Mozambique, has risen to 598.

In the meantime, humanitarian workers are racing to contain an outbreak of cholera in the country.  

Mozambique’s health ministry reported at least 1,052 cases of cholera late on Monday, including one death.

The acute diarrhoeal disease has been spreading in the hard-hit city of Beira and its half-million residents since the outbreak was declared last week.

Some 900,000 oral cholera vaccines have arrived in Beira for the launch of a vaccination campaign later this week. Thousands of people in the region have no access to clean water and cholera cases are now reported outside Beira.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it expects the number of cholera cases to rise.

“The next few weeks are crucial and speed is of the essence if we are to save lives and limit suffering,” WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said.

Cyclone Idai also killed at least 259 people in neighbouring Zimbabwe and at least 56 in Malawi.

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