Tsvangirai: Cholera outbreak 'man-made'

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Morgan Tsvangirai, the leading opposition leader in Zimbabwe, said Thursday his country's ongoing cholera outbreak was initially "man-made."

The Movement for Democratic Change leader said the outbreak, which has claimed an estimated 2,755 lives as of Thursday, was primarily due to the failures of Zimbabwe's government led by President Robert Mugabe, CNN reported.

"Cholera in Zimbabwe is a man-made crisis. The problem we have here is coupled with (the) fact of negligence on the part of government to provide the necessary facilities. It shows the collapse of the health delivery system," Tsvangirai claimed.

The World Health Organization estimated Thursday that in addition to the Zimbabwean deaths from the outbreak, an estimated 48,623 people have been infected with cholera since last year.

CNN said Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic has been intensified since it began last August by uncollected garbage, broken piping systems and a shortage of water and water purification supplies.