Harare - Four more people have died from cholera in Zimbabwe, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease to at least 15 in the last month, reports said on Thursday.
The deaths come after an outbreak of cholera was reported in the capital Harare this week.
The four latest deaths were recorded last week in Shamva, a town in north-eastern Zimbabwe, said the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
"We have already deployed a team in the area to monitor the situation since the first death on February 26," Edward Mabhiza, a senior official in the health ministry, was quoted as saying. In February, 11 people were reported to have died from cholera in Muzarabani and Mudzi, in Mashonaland Central province.
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Earlier this week Health Minister David Parirenyatwa confirmed that at least 14 cases of cholera had been reported in Harare, including nine at a refugee camp in Harare's Waterfalls suburb. No deaths were reported.
At least 6 million people in Zimbabwe - or around half the population - do not have access to proper sanitation facilities such as clean water.
"What we have established is that most of the (cholera) cases are spreading due to inadequate sanitation facilities," the Health Ministry's Mabhiza was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Harare, which is in the grips of a strike by municipal workers, is already struggling with severe water cuts, burst sewer pipes and heaps of uncollected garbage - conditions ripe for the spread of diseases.
The strike has also affected operations at clinics run by the city council, with patients reportedly being turned away. - Sapa-dpa
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