LILONGWE (Reuters) - The death toll from cholera in Malawi has risen to 30 from the 26 recorded last month, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

The number of infections has risen to 893 from 844 in March, the ministry said.

Cases in the capital, Lilongwe, rose to 352 from 305 and deaths from 14 to 18 during the period of March 26 to April 11, said Joshua Malango, a spokesman for the ministry.

Parts of Lilongwe have experienced flash flooding, and heavy rain continues in most parts of the country.

The cholera outbreak has been blamed on drinking water from shallow, contaminated sources. </s> The death toll from cholera in Malawi has risen to 30 from the 26 recorded last month, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

The number of infections has risen to 893 from 844 in March, the ministry said.

Cases in the capital, Lilongwe, rose to 352 from 305 and deaths from 14 to 18 during the period of March 26 to April 11, said Joshua Malango, a spokesman for the ministry.

In March, the ministry had declared that it was winning the war against cholera, arguing that no new cases were registered and that only one patient was receiving treatment in the cholera camps.

Parts of Lilongwe have experienced flash flooding, and heavy rain continues in most parts of the country.

The cholera outbreak has been blamed on drinking water from shallow, contaminated sources. </s> The cholera death toll in Malawi has risen to 30 from the 26 recorded last month, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

According to Ministry of Health spokesperson Joshua Malango, the number of infections has also risen to 893 from 844 in March.

“Cases in the capital, Lilongwe, rose to 352 from 305 and deaths from 14 to 18 during the period of March 26 to April 11,” said Malango.

The cholera outbreak has been blamed on drinking water from shallow and contaminated sources.

 The current outbreak started last year at the onset of the ongoing rainy season.

Districts heavily hit by the disease are Karonga, Lilongwe, Salima and Dedza.

The cholera outbreak has also hit Rumphi, Dowa, Nkhatabay, Likoma, Nsanje and Mulanje. </s> HARARE - As Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new Cabinet holds its first meeting on Monday, there have been calls for him to declare the country’s cholera outbreak a state of disaster.

At least 30 people have died and more than 5,400 have been infected since the outbreak earlier this month.

In a statement quoted by state media, local government minister July Moyo says measures need to be taken to manage the drivers of cholera.

These include Harare’s lack of clean water, dilapidated sewage systems and poor waste management.

The minister says the cholera outbreak should be declared a state of disaster.

Two more people are reported to have died from the disease over the weekend, bringing the death toll this month to 30.

Meanwhile, reports say there have been more suspected cholera infections in Bulawayo, with 10 people there now under quarantine. </s> Johannesburg -- The number of cholera cases among survivors of a devastating cyclone in central Mozambique has jumped to 139, officials have said. Nearly 1 million vaccine doses were being rushed to the region.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa reported the number late Thursday, citing national health official Ussein Isse, who had declared the outbreak a day earlier with just five confirmed cases.

Cholera is a major concern for hundreds of thousands of survivors now living in squalid conditions in camps, schools and sodden homes. The disease is spread by contaminated food and water, causes acute diarrhea and can kill within hours if not treated with oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids in severe cases.

The World Health Organization has warned of a "second disaster" if waterborne diseases like cholera spread. On Tuesday it said 900,000 oral cholera vaccines were on their way.

"You can imagine how much we are sitting on a water and sanitation ticking time bomb," the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Elhadj As Sy, told The Associated Press last week after visiting a school where 3,000 survivors were sheltering with only six toilets between them.

Some of the hardest-hit communities remained cut off from aid 15 days after Cyclone Idai roared in.

Climate change's role in severe storms and extreme flooding

They are relying on heavily polluted water, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday, adding that clear water and medical supplies are urgently needed.

Even in the port city of Beira, the hub of international relief efforts, some of its 500,000 residents have resorted to drinking stagnant water by the side of the road, increasing the chances of diarrhea, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders has said. Others are drinking from contaminated wells.

The aid group has seen hundreds of cases of acute watery diarrhea this week.

The death toll in Mozambique is now at least 468, with at least 259 dead in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi. Officials have warned that those numbers are preliminary and final figures may never be known. Some bodies have been found and buried without being registered with authorities. Others were washed away.

As the floodwaters continue to drain, more bodies are expected to be found.

A patient with severe diarrhea is treated in a tent at Macurungo urban health center in Beira, Mozambique, amid a cholera outbreak in the wake of Cyclone Idai, March 27, 2019. Getty

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday announced that the search and rescue phase had ended. He also declared that health care would be free for residents in cyclone-hit areas until the end of the year, Lusa reported.

The United Nations has said some 1.8 million people need urgent help across the sodden, largely rural region. Hunger is another growing concern, as the storm wiped out crops on the eve of harvest.

Officials have found a slender hope in the weather report, which appears free of rain for the next several days. </s> MAPUTO: The number of cholera cases has almost doubled in Mozambique in the past 24 hours and the port city of Beira has recorded its first death from the disease since a massive cyclone struck, health chiefs said on Sunday (Mar 31).

Cyclone Idai smashed into Beira on Mar 14, unleashing catastrophic flooding and killing more than 700 people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The aftermath may prove to be even deadlier with 1.85 million people displaced after entire villages were submerged and households swept away.

"We've now registered one death from cholera. The person came here in a very critical condition. The deceased is the first to die from cholera inside our health facilities," Mozambique's National Director for Medical Assistance, Ussene Isse, said on public television channel TVN.

Isse said 517 cases of the disease had been reported by Sunday, up from the figure of 271 announced on Saturday.

Cholera is endemic to Mozambique, which has had regular outbreaks over the past five years. About 2,000 people were infected in the last outbreak, which ended in February 2018, according to the WHO.

The scale of the damage to Beira's water and sanitation infrastructure, coupled with its dense population, have raised fears that another epidemic would be difficult to put down. </s> BEIRA, Mozambique — Cholera cases in cyclone-hit Mozambique have risen above 1,400, government officials said Tuesday, as hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses arrived in an attempt to limit the rapid spread of the disease.

Authorities announced a second death from cholera, which causes acute diarrhea and is spread by contaminated food and water — conditions that some 128,000 displaced cyclone survivors now risk daily while living in temporary, often crowded, shelters. Cholera can kill within hours if not treated.

The cholera outbreak has grown swiftly since it was declared last week with five confirmed cases. Now there are 1,428, most of them in the hard-hit port city of Beira, which has been the hub of relief efforts since Cyclone Idai roared in on March 14.

The city of a half-million residents is most at risk from cholera but the disease also is reported in outlying communities in central Mozambique. The new death was in Dondo, government officials said.

Monday's count of cholera cases had been 1,052.

That figure was already more than double the 500 beds that are now open in seven cholera treatment centres across the region, though the World Health Organization said it plans to "boost the capacity significantly."

Authorities on Tuesday also said the overall death toll in Mozambique from the cyclone had risen to 598. The number has been called very preliminary and the real toll may never be known, with some people quickly buried or washed away.

Some 900,000 oral cholera vaccines arrived in Beira for the expected launch of a vaccination campaign on Wednesday.

"The next few weeks are crucial and speed is of the essence if we are to save lives and limit suffering," WHO's regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said in a statement.

Cyclone Idai also killed at least 259 people in neighbouring Zimbabwe and at least 56 in Malawi. </s> BEIRA, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambican authorities have announced the first cholera death among cyclone survivors in the hard-hit city of Beira as the number of cases rises to 517.

Broadcaster TVM on Sunday night cited national health official Ussene Isse for the new toll.

Cases of the acute diarrheal disease have risen dramatically since the outbreak was declared on Wednesday. Cyclone Idai severely damaged the water system for Beira, a city of 500,000, when it hit on March 14.

The World Health Organization has said some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses are set to arrive on Monday.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that is spread by contaminated water and food. It can kill within hours but is relatively easy to treat.

The overall cyclone death toll in Mozambique is now 518. </s> BEIRA, Mozambique (AP) - Mozambican authorities have announced the first cholera death among cyclone survivors in the hard-hit city of Beira as the number of cases rises to 517.

Broadcaster TVM on Sunday night cited national health official Ussene Isse for the new toll.

Cases of the acute diarrheal disease have risen dramatically since the outbreak was declared on Wednesday. Cyclone Idai severely damaged the water system for Beira, a city of 500,000, when it hit on March 14.

The World Health Organization has said some 900,000 cholera vaccine doses are set to arrive on Monday.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that is spread by contaminated water and food. It can kill within hours but is relatively easy to treat.

The overall cyclone death toll in Mozambique is now 518.

A mother bathes her baby in a bucket at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Women and men pick up bricks from a collapsed house to build another structure in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A woman fetches water from an unprotected source in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Chinese doctors spray chemicals to prevent the spread of cholera at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed, the report said. Another Lusa report said the death toll in central Mozambique from the cyclone that hit on March 14 had inched up to 501. Authorities have warned the toll is highly preliminary as flood waters recede and reveal more bodies. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Women and children are outside a displacement camp in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Mozambican authorities say the number of cholera cases among cyclone survivors has risen to 271. The cases have been discovered in the port city of Beira, raising the stakes in an already desperate fight to help hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in increasingly squalid conditions.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A young boy is seen outside a displacement camp for survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Mozambican authorities say the number of cholera cases among cyclone survivors has risen to 271.The cases have been discovered in the port city of Beira, raising the stakes in an already desperate fight to help hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in increasingly squalid conditions.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
The death toll from a Malawi cholera epidemic reaches 30.