Cholera outbreak in Somalia kills children

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- At least 43 children are confirmed dead in south-central Somalia as an outbreak of cholera slowly spreads across the East African nation.

With repeated wars, droughts and floods ravaging the region, children under the age of 5 have become increasingly less resilient to the disease and reports have cited the dead in the hundreds, the Shabelle Media Network said.

An unspecified number of children and infants are also said to be stricken as area doctors await international aid.

So far, the cholera outbreak has claimed 30 children near the town of Jawhar, at least 16 more in the Jilib district of southern Somalia's Middle Jubba province and at least 18 in the Lower Shabelle provincial district of Qoryoley, reports said.

Doctors pleaded for international aid asking that medical supplies be delivered to those areas of Somalia worst hit by the outbreak.