UN says cholera hit 1,220 Zaire refugees, 30 dead

[Reuters]

GENEVA, Dec 6 (Reuter) - The U.N. health agency said on
Friday 30 people died from an outbreak of cholera in east Zaire
and in a Rwanda transit camp since November among 1,220
confirmed cases, but reported the epidemic had hit its peak.
World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Philippe Stroot
told a Geneva briefing that the situation was under control.
Since November 16, cholera claimed 23 lives in east Zaire's
Goma region where 1,123 cases had been confirmed, he said.
In Runda transit centre near Rwanda's capital Kigali, WHO
reported seven dead among 97 confirmed cases of cholera.
``The situation is under control. WHO specialists think that
the epidemic has already reached its peak,'' Stroot said.
More than half a million Rwandan Hutus poured out of Goma
last month after Tutsi rebels shelled a camp and forced Hutu
militiamen to flee. The U.N. refugee agency says 700,000 more
refugees are still scattered in east Zaire.
A cholera outbreak claimed 30,000 lives in Goma in 1994 when
Rwandan Hutu refugees fled after a Hutu-led genocide of minority
Tutsis. At the peak of the epidemic, more than 5,000 people died
in a single day.
Primary sources of cholera infection are contaminated
drinking water and food prepared by infected persons. Preventive
actions include cholorination of wells, boiling water for
cooking and building pit latrines.
Treatment involves rehydration to replace water and salts
lost through severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Severe cases require
intravenous rehydration and treatment with antibiotics.

[Reuters]

GENEVA (Reuter) - The U.N. health agency said Friday 30
people had died from an outbreak of cholera in east Zaire and in

a Rwanda transit camp since November among 1,220 confirmed
cases, but reported the epidemic had hit its peak.

World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Philippe Stroot
said the situation was under control.
Since Nov. 16, cholera claimed 23 lives in east Zaire's Goma

region where 1,123 cases had been confirmed, he said.

In Runda transit center near Rwanda's capital Kigali, WHO

reported seven dead among 97 confirmed cases of cholera.