Medecins Sans Frontieres statement on Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe

As requested, here is a link to the latest update from Medecins Sans Frontieres on the Cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. The health aid organization has set up two treatment centers in the country, and says the need is greatest in and around the city of Harare.

To date, we have treated about 4,000 patients in Harare and 1,300 in the Mudzi district at the border with Mozambique. The patient numbers are still at a high level but have more or less stabilised at a total average of about 350 admissions per day in Harare. The situation in Breitbridge, a town close to the border with South Africa where more than 3,000 cases have been seen since mid-November is now improving, with the number of cases decreasing*. MSF is also covering the rural areas south of Harare, and Masvingo and Manicaland provinces, where scattered cases of cholera have been found in several villages.

We are working alongside the Ministry of Health as much as possible and helping to train health workers to treat patients and to control future outbreaks. MSF has emergency staff on the ground in the most affected areas and has been sending vital supplies to these areas. MSF will continue to investigate reports of new cases and will work to contain the outbreak in the most deeply affected areas as long as necessary.