The Zimbabwean government has announced a state of emergency in the capital city, Harare over a cholera outbreak.
The outbreak has so far, killed dozens of people with over 7,000 suspected cases.
The city’s authorities have likened the outbreak, spreading throughout the city, to that of 2008, in which thousands died.
The authorities are presently asking for help to limit the spread and provide safe water, as they have aid that the aid being received is insufficient.
According to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), health authorities have been battling to contain the vast number of admissions following the outbreak.
They have also cited a scarcity of health workers to curb the cases, as well as lack of supplies to halt the transmission.
Im recent months, Zimbabwe has been battling the deadly cholera outbreak in recent months amid scarcity of to clean water.
The epicentre of the newest outbreak is Harare’s high-density suburb of Kuwadzana, which accounts for almost half the reported cases, the authorities had said.
Cholera, an acute diarrhoea infection is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with the bacterium, Vibrio cholerae.
On Thursday, the Harare mayor revealed that the cholera outbreak had resemblance to the 2008 outbreak.
The outbreak had led to the deaths of over 4,000 people, with at least 100,000 infected with the disease. It eventually led to a paralysis of essential services in the country.
“This present outbreak came with a vengeance,” Harare’s mayor was quoted as saying on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the ministry of health announced that the country had recorded about 7,398 suspected cases with 50 confirmed deaths. At the time of making this report, about 109 people have been hospitalized due to the disease.
The outbreak is expected to cross the country’s border.
Neighboring countries including: Malawi, South Africa, and Mozambique have also recorded cases of cholera outbreaks in previous times.
