Cholera Kills 2,225 in Zimbabwe, Infects 42,600

January 17, 2009

Cholera deaths hit 2,225 in Zimbabwe, UNICEF chief tours treatment center in Harare

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6663303

HARARE, Zimbabwe January 16, 2009 (AP)

The Associated Press

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UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman visits patients at the Budiriro Health Centre for Cholera in...

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman visits patients at the Budiriro Health Centre for Cholera in Harare, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009. Veneman toured a hospital in a crowded Harare neighborhood where her organization has provided funds and medicine to treat cholera victims. The hospital had been overwhelmed with patients in recent months. The crowding has lessened, but Veneman says that does not mean the cholera epidemic that has swept the country is slowing. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) (AP)

The death toll from a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe rose to 2,225 Friday, and the head of the U.N. children's agency toured a hospital where weakened victims of the waterborne disease were receiving international help.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, on a three-day visit to the southern African nation, also met Friday with President Robert Mugabe. No details of their meeting were released, but it came the same day as the United Nations urged Zimbabwe to speed up the delivery of humanitarian supplies.

As Veneman toured the hospital in Budiriro, a crowded neighborhood of Harare, the capital, women collected water from tanks set up outside. Zimbabwe's economic collapse has destroyed its infrastructure, and the country has not been able to ensure clean water or prompt medical help for its citizens.

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UNICEF has provided funds, medicine and food to keep the Budiriro hospital going since October, but it was overwhelmed with patients in recent months. The crowding has since fallen, but Veneman said that does not mean the cholera epidemic that has swept the country is slowing.

In Geneva, the United Nations said the cholera death toll in Zimbabwe since August reached 2,225 on Friday, with 42,675 others infected and 1,550 new cases being reported every day. The U.N. also said a lack of clean water and proper hygiene was causing re-infection after treatment and added there was an "urgent need" for funds to pay Zimbabwean health workers.

The world body said an operation to feed millions of hungry Zimbabweans, which preceded the cholera outbreak, meant aid workers and medical workers were competing for vehicles and fuel. It urged the government to cut red tape to speed up the arrival of supplies, which can take several months to get through the border.

Cholera outbreaks are common in developing countries, but the waterborne disease does not usually kill more than about 1 percent of people infected. In Zimbabwe, the World Health Organization estimated that the fatality rate was about 5 percent.