Cholera hits Democratic Republic of Congo

Refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been hit by an outbreak of cholera, according to UNICEF.

Over 400 cases of the disease were reported by health workers in late October in the country's North Kivu province, the UN children's organisation stated.

They went on to explain that UNICEF was now working with organisations such as Oxfam and Mercy Corps to improve water and sanitation in the camps and to stop the outbreak from spreading.

In a statement, UNICEF said: "Mobilising agents are presently circulating within the camps, speaking to the people about the dangers cholera presents and how to prevent and limit its spread.

"Meanwhile, the efforts of all the water and sanitation partners have greatly mitigated the current danger," they added.

According to World Health Organization figures, there was a dramatic rise in cholera cases worldwide in 2006 with over 230,000 reports of the disease and 6,311 deaths resulting from those.

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