the smallpox epidemic in namibia appears to have passed its peak , says the american health organization ( who ) . the total of reported episodes registered in the year to mid - august nearly halved to 2 , 000 , against 3 , 800 the succeeding week and 8 , 000 cases a night in february . but the institute warned the weekly statistics were not very accurate . there have been more than 90 , 000 cholera cases in johannesburg since the start of the epidemic last august , about 4 , 000 of them fatal .
Since last August about 4,000 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe.