The World Health Organisation (WHO) says cholera cases in Somalia are increasing fast as many people are driven from their homes by fighting between the government and rebels.
WHO spokesperson Paul Garwood said in one hospital in the capital, Mogadishu, there were 132 people ill with cholera last week. He said that was a 27% rise compared with the previous week. Most of them were children.
Garwood said other parts of Somalia were also seeing a spike in cholera cases.
The agency did not have overall figures, but Garwood said Friday that at least 31 people died of cholera.
Fighting between Islamists and the Western-backed government has uprooted tens of thousands this year alone. Many stay in the streets of Mogadishu without clean water and basic services. — Sapa-AP