Cholera outbreak in Tanzania claims 27 lives


An outbreak of cholera amongst Burundian refugees in Tanzania has claimed 27 lives, the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, has confirmed.

The outbreak occurred among 50,000 Burundians gathered on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

Unrest in Burundi has forced more than 110,000 people to flee to neighbouring countries.

The majority has fled to Tanzania.
Most of the refugees are women and children.
The village of Kagunga has seen the highest number of arrivals, with around 50,000 people camped on its shores, in a remote and hard-to-reach part of the East African country.

Overcrowding and poor sanitation has resulted in a surge of confirmed or suspected cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea among the refugees.

UNICEF has warned that without a cholera treatment centre on site in Kagunga, many more people could die.

SOURCE: Cathrine Hasselberg, United Nations