Cholera gains

last updated 8 January 2015

Luanda, Angola

Angola is in the grip of one of the worst outbreaks of cholera in decades, the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières said this week. In the last 10 weeks alone, at least 900 cholera sufferers have died, with 25 perishing in a single day last week. Cholera is spread primarily by contact with contaminated food and water; many Angolan homes lack running water and sewers, after millions flocked to towns and cities during 27 years of civil war. “Everybody has been slow to respond,” said Richard Veerman, the group’s mission head in Angola. “But with what we know today, there can be no excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to prevent the death toll from climbing much higher.”