Cholera cases top 1,400 in Mozambique

Cholera cases in cyclone hit Mozambique have risen above 1,400, government officials said, as hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses arrived in an attempt to limit the rapid spread of the disease.

Authorities announced a second death from cholera, which causes acute diarrhoea and is spread by contaminated food and water – conditions that 128,000 displaced cyclone survivors now risk daily while living in temporary, often crowded, shelters.

Cholera can kill within hours if not treated. The outbreak has grown swiftly since it was declared last week with five confirmed cases. Now there are 1,428, most of them in the hard-hit port city of Beira, which has been the hub of relief efforts since Cyclone Idai roared in on 14 March.

The disease is also being reported in outlying communities in central Mozambique.

Authorities said the full death toll from the cyclone may never be known, with some people quickly buried or washed away.