Cholera hits 3 000 Burundi refugees

Geneva - Around 3 000 cases of cholera have been reported in a worsening epidemic in Tanzania among Burundian refugees, the United Nations said on Friday.

A Tanzanian health official told Reuters on Wednesday that at least 33 people had died from the disease spread by contaminated water that broke out near Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika and in the villages of Kagunga and Nyarugusu.

"The epidemic is still worsening. To date some 3 000 cases have been reported, and numbers are increasing at 300 - 400 new cases per day, particularly in Kagunga and nearby areas," UN refugee agency spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing.