BLANTYRE (Reuters) – The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Malawi accelerated to 180 from 110 in October, the minister of health said on Monday, raising the likelihood that the situation could worsen.
The first case of the debilitating infection, which spreads mainly through contaminated food and water, was reported in March in the southern district of Machinga.
The case fatality rate has risen to 3% from 2.8% recorded at the start of October, Malawi’s health minister Khumbize Chiponda said in a statement, adding that the total number of infections since the start of the outbreak stood at 5,939.
(Reporting by Frank Phiri; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian and Sandra Maler)
