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SOUTH AFRICA IN CHOLERA EPIDEMIC February 22, 2001

CNN reports: “South Africa's worst cholera epidemic in at least more than 15 years has killed 111 people and sickened more than 50,000 more just since August, health authorities said Friday. And more than 1,500 people were diagnosed with the disease over only a 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday alone, raising the number sickened in the epidemic to 50,614, the provincial health department in KwaZulu-Natal said. The cholera epidemic is South Africa's worst since the early 1980s, when more than 105,400 people contracted the highly contagious waterborne disease, but that was over a 4 year period. More than 340 people died in 4 consecutive epidemics.
This current severe strain of cholera has already sickened more than 50,600 just since August alone. That shows the severity of this current epidemic. Cholera, which causes severe diarrhea, can only be controlled by providing rural residents with clean drinking water and sanitation. Recent studies show that 21 million South Africans lack access to sanitation, and at least 8 million do not have access to clean drinking water. Many rely on river water for cooking, drinking and washing. Authorities urged South Africans to purify the water by boiling it or adding bleach...