Cholera outbreak kills more than 100 in Angola

LUANDA: A cholera outbreak in Angola has killed at least 108 people since the start of the year, the health ministry said Tuesday, with deaths on the rise in the last few days.

The resource-rich African nation has struggled with high poverty rates and poor sanitation despite its oil wealth.

There have been 3,147 confirmed cases of the disease since January 7, the health ministry said, nearly half of them in the capital Luanda.

The age range of those affected is between two and 100, it said. At least 48 people have died in Luanda and 43 in Bengo, a province neighbouring the capital.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from faeces. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.