New outbreak of cholera in Chile

The health authorities in Chile have confirmed that at least five people have been infected by a new outbreak of cholera in the north of the country.

Tests are being carried out to determine if the death of a sixty-five year old man in the town of San Pedro de Atacama on Monday was due to the disease.

Another twenty-one people are under observation.

The authorities say cholera, which may have spread via irrigation channels in the area, had not been detected in Chile since 1994.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service