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Angola

Angola cholera outbreak defies control efforts

LUANDA, May 16 (Reuters) - Angola's cholera epidemic appears to have reached a deadly plateau, defying months of work by government and non-governmental organisations to quash the worst outbreak of the disease in more than a decade.
New figures released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday put the death toll since mid-February at 1,230 out of a total of 34,418 cases, with 588 new cases and 10 deaths reported in the last 24 hours alone.

Health experts said the outbreak was logging new victims at a steady -- if high -- rate, a signal the epidemic was still working its way through the vast southwest African nation, thanks in large part to a massive road construction programme that has made it easier for people, and the disease, to travel.

"There is a plateau for sure -- (but) this is stable," WHO analysts Jordi Sacristan told Reuters.

Officials say heavy rains have combined with Angola's multi-billion-dollar infrastructure improvement programme to create fertile ground for a cholera epidemic as travel routes reopen after the end of the country's civil war in 2002.

"Many people fled to Luanda (from rural regions) during the war looking for security. They created slums where the disease spreads fast. We need information, sanitation and education to reorganise," Angola deputy health minister Jose Van Dunem said.

"There's not enough drinking water in either quality or quantity," Van Dunem said.

Health workers said heavy rains had left large, stagnant puddles across Angola's many slums, increasing the danger of a disease which spreads primarily through overcrowding and poor hygiene.