Zimbabwe vaccinates 1.4-million to combat cholera outbreak
No new deaths in the past week is seen a sign that the disease is being brought under control
Harare — Zimbabwe has started vaccinating people living in urban areas to contain the worst cholera outbreak to hit the country in a decade and which has left 49 people dead and infected thousands more. Last month, the country of just more than 16-million people appealed locally for help to raise $35m to buy vaccines and medicines, and to repair water and sewerage pipes. Some 1.4-million will be vaccinated, starting with those in the most densely populated areas. The outbreak of the water-borne disease has exposed the lack of maintenance of the country’s infrastructure. Zimbabwe’s worst cholera outbreak occurred in 2008 during the height of its economic crisis, leaving more than 4,000 dead and infecting another 40,000. During the current outbreak, more than 10,000 people have been infected by cholera but there have been no new deaths reported in the past week, which the ministry of health said on Wednesday was a sign that the disease was being brought under control. Vaccinations we...
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