Cholera death toll climbs to 28 in Zimbabwe
A nurse takes care of cholera patients during a visit of Zimbabwe Minister of Health, at the cholera treatment centre of the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital, in Harare, on September 11, 2018.<br />At least 18 people have died over the past week in the Zimbabwe capital Harare and scores fallen ill after a cholera and typhoid outbreak in some areas, authorities said on September 10, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA
The cholera outbreak, first detected in a township outside the capital Harare earlier this month, prompted the government to declare an emergency in the city after at least 3,000 cases were reported.
“Although I cannot say we have contained the disease as yet, we are moving swiftly in all provinces of the country,” health minister Obadiah Moyo told the state-owned Sunday Mail.
“We have moved into the second line of antibiotics, which is azithromycin, after the first line of antibiotics — ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone — have become resistant to the disease.”
Moyo said rubbish dumps would be removed from high-risk areas of Harare, sewer pipes would be repaired and street food vendors had been ordered to halt work.
Authorities have banned public gatherings in the city as a health measure, forcing the opposition MDC party to call off a major rally on Saturday.
