Cholera has broken out in Siavonga District, in Southern Province of Zambia, and one person has since died following the outbreak, Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS) reported on Sunday.

The disease broke out in Matinangala area, about three kilometers from the main Siavonga Township, ZANIS said.

District Director of Health, Joseph Kabungo, confirmed the outbreak, saying that six cholera cases have so far been recorded in the township from the time the water borne disease broke out some four days ago.

Kabungo said all the six cases, that included one death, were received at the district hospital before being transferred to the district cholera center in Chirundu.

He disclosed that a woman died at the hospital from suspected cholera after she was rushed to the health center on Friday.

Kabungo attributed the outbreak of the disease in Matinangala area to poor sanitation as well as unsafe drinking water that residents source from Lake Kariba, ZANIS said.

He, further, stated that the human waste is later washed by rains and discharged into the lake where residents go and draw their water for drinking and other domestic use.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)