A CHOLERA epidemic that raged through Malawi from September to June killed at least 5000 people and infected 30000 others. Malawi’s controller of preventive health services, Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma, said on Thursday: “We haven’t received any reports of cholera since the end of June, and we can now say the situation is now under control.” Medical experts attributes Malawi’s annual cholera outbreaks to poor hygiene. The disease usually breaks out in high-density urban surbubs before spreading. The 1998 outbreak started in the commercial city of Blantyre, which has a concentration of the urban poor who leave the rural areas in search of job opportunities.