Doctors Without Borders in Zambia to assist with cholera outbreak

JOHANNESBURG - As some parts of the continent battle a deadly cholera outbreak, humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders has sent a team to Zambia to assist the health ministry in the country. 

Zambia has been grappling with an outbreak since October last year, with close to 20,000 positive cases recorded and 700 people killed by the bacterial disease. 

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The country is one of eleven working to address the ongoing spread of the disease.

Doctors Without Borders said the current cholera outbreak in Zambia puts severe strain on the medical sector, with resources having to be redirected to address the crisis. 

It said it was assisting the health ministry in the country medically, and with logistical issues, notably in Lusaka and Ndola - two cities that have been hardest hit by the outbreak. 

Last year, South Africa was also hit with an outbreak that started in Hammanskraal in the city of Tshwane, which claimed dozens of lives. 

The organisation said it was deeply concerning that people were still dying from this treatable disease.