Cholera Outbreak Sweeps Somalia

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that a cholera epidemic in Somalia had killed nearly four times more people than was usual in Africa.

Figures issued by the U.N. agency showed 7,472 cases registered by May 5 out of an estimated population of 3.5 million. They showed 285 people had died from the disease.

“We know 15 major population centers are affected but in fact it is clear it is now all over the country,” said WHO spokesman Valery Abramov.

Cholera is a bacterial disease normally caused by impure water and sanitation. Abramov said the epidemic in Somalia appeared to have been made worse by undernourishment and the movement of people displaced by fighting.