60,000 could catch cholera

Up to 60,000 people in Zimbabwe could become infected with cholera in a worst-case scenario if the epidemic gets out of control, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday.

"The health-cluster assessment in a worst-case scenario is 60,000 cases," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva.

The known number of cholera cases in the country stands at 13,960 with 589 deaths, although the true extent of the deadly outbreak which began in August is unclear, according to the United Nations agency.