Dec 15, 2008 8:45 am US/Central
UN: Cholera Death Toll In Zimbabwe Rising Rapidly
Total Number Of Cases Has Risen To 18,413 Since Start Of Outbreak In August
GENEVA (AP) ―
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A cholera victim lays in a hospital ward at the Budiriro Polyclinic in Harare on Dec. 10, 2008.
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The United Nations says the death toll from a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has risen to 978 -- an increase of nearly 25 percent in three days.
The U.N. humanitarian office says the total number of suspected cases reported in the southern African country has risen to 18,413 since the start of the outbreak in August.
The figures reported Monday by the World Health Organizations were up from the 792 deaths and 16,700 cases reported Friday. The World Health Organization has said the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped.
Cholera has spread in Zimbabwe because of the deterioration of the country's health care and water supply systems.
The Zimbabwean government on Saturday accused the West of deliberately starting the country's cholera epidemic, stepping up a war of words with the regime's critics as the humanitarian crisis deepened.
The state-run Herald newspaper said comments by the U.S. ambassador that the U.S. had been preparing for the outbreak raised suspicions the West had waged "serious biological chemical war."
Zimbabwean officials often blame their country's troubles on the West. Their stranglehold on most sources of news to which ordinary Zimbabweans have access makes such rhetoric an important tool for a regime struggling to hold onto power.
After the first cholera cases, U.S. and other aid workers braced for the waterborne disease to spread quickly in an economically ravaged country where the sewage system and medical care have collapsed. Zimbabwe also faces a hunger crisis, the world's highest inflation and shortages of both the most basic necessities and the cash to buy them.
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