Updated 02:03 | Published at 01:43
The UN children’s fund Unicef estimates that over 8,000 children under the age of five have been infected with cholera so far this year in the province of North Kivu, in eastern Congo-Kinshasa. According to Unicef, there are more than six times as many cases in the age group compared to the whole of last year.
The province has been ravaged by conflict for nearly three decades, with large numbers of people fleeing as a result.
In total, Unicef estimates over 31,000 cases throughout the country this year, including many children, and North Kivu is described as the worst hit with around 21,400 cases.
– If urgent measures are not taken within the next few months, there is a significant risk that the disease will spread to parts of the country that have not been affected for many years, says Shameza Abdulla, Unicef’s crisis coordinator in Congo-Kinshasa.
A cholera epidemic affected large parts of the country in 2017. Around 55,000 people were then infected and 1,100 died.