Nearly 300 die of cholera in Sierra Leone: WHO

Geneva  :  Over 18,000 cases of cholera have been reported in west Africa’s Sierra Leone, and at least 273 people have died in the biggest outbreak since the 1970s, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

The disease broke out in Feburary in the coastal areas and had gone down, Xinhua quoted WHO Control of Epidemic Diseases coordinator William Augusto Perea Caro as saying.

When it picked up again in July, it mainly affected the capital city of Freetown.

The number of newly-reported cases has now dropped to 100 per week from the 2,100 at the peak time, he said.

He said the main causes for the outbreak was the increasing migration to Freetown and lack of water and sanitation systems.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) appealed Thursday for about $2.7 million to help fight the outbreak.