Death toll rising from Somalia cholera outbreak

MOGADISHU, Somalia (Reuters) -- The death toll in Somalia's latest cholera outbreak is increasing, health authorities in Adaleh, 230 km (185 miles) northeast of Mogadishu, reported on Sunday.

At least 25 deaths have occurred in the last 48 hours, and another 80 patients are in hospital.

Local elders, contacted by radio, said up to eight people were dying daily in Adaleh, and more deaths had occurred in six nearby villages.

Cholera has been endemic in Somalia for several years, with only limited health facilities available to care for the victims. Some cases had also been reported in Mogadishu, officials there said.

Meanwhile, floods in southern Somalia have swept away an estimated 60 villages after the Juba river burst its banks, inundating thousands of hectares of farmland.

The main road linking Mogadishu with the southern port town of Kismayu has been cut by the floods, officials in Kismayu reported.

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