Cholera outbreak in Tanzania kills 100

The United Nations office in Tanzania says that more than one hundred people have died of cholera on the island of Zanzibar.

Nearly six hundred more people have been admitted to hospital.

A spokeswoman for the U.N. Children's Fund, Helena Eversol, called it an epidemic, although she said the rate at which people were dying was slowing down.

She said two task forces, made up of officials from both government and non-governmental organisations, have been set up to deal with the crisis.

The outbreak, which was announced last week, has been blamed on above-average seasonal rains, poor sanitation, and the failure of people to observe basic hygiene.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service