Cholera spreads in West Africa, warns UN agencies
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Cholera patient receiving medical treatment
More than 1,000 people have died of cholera in West Africa where rains and floods are threatening to create conditions for the disease to spread faster and further.
This warning has come from the World Health Organization and the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF).
Derrick Mbatha reports
The World Health Organization and UNICEF say that already this year, more than 55,000 cases of cholera have been reported in West Africa.
According to the two agencies, the disease is spreading fast in the countries of the Mano River Basin, which include Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
It is also spreading along the Congo River, affecting people in both the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as western Niger, the agencies add.
Cholera, which is caused by contaminated food and water, is a diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated.
Derrick Mbatha, United Nations
Duration: 48″
