The worst cholera outbreak on record in Malawi has claimed more than 1,000 lives, Health Minister Khumbize Chiponda disclosed.
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| Malawi is suffering the worst cholera outbreak in 20 years which has killed more than 1,000 people. Photo: Thoko Chikondi/AP Photo via Al Jazeera |
More than 30,000 cases have been recorded so far in the East African country.
The number of deaths announced ruptured a grim milestone as well as exceeded the highest outbreak recorded, which took 968 lives between 2001 and 2002, as released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Wednesday, Health Minister Chiponda, called on people to take precaution handling the bodies of cholera victims before burial.
She said: “People who are dying from cholera may be washed by family members who then prepare funeral feasts… outbreaks of cholera commonly follow these feasts.”
Most of the deaths happened in the two main cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre.
