SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, July 21 (Xinhua) -- As many as 4,000 people have been affected with cholera in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province, a hospital official said Thursday.
"1,000 people were affected with cholera in Aqcha district, while 3,000 other were infected with the disease in Shiberghan, the capital city of the province, in less than few weeks," Ghawsuddin Anwari, a senior official for the provincial public hospital, told Xinhua.
According to the official, despite the rapid outbreak of the disease, no death has so far been registered in the province, but the cases are remarkably on the rise.
Most of the patients are from Aqcha district, where there was a lack of access to clean water.
Health officials in the province said an equipped 100-bed hospital has been dedicated for the cholera-affected patients, and it has the capacity of admitting up to 500 patients if needed.
At least 20 children have lost lives due to cholera in Helmand province, while 180 people, including women and children, were infected with the disease in one week in the southern Kandahar province. ■