Cholera kills 40 Ivorian prisoners

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- An outbreak of cholera killed 40 prisoners last week at the Man civilian prison, 585 km north-west of Abidjan, the official national redio reported Tuesday evening.
According to the radio's correspondent in the area, two other inmates were vomitting and suffering from acute diarrhoea.
"In the prison we visited, many prisoners were simultaneously vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea," the journalist reported.
Cote d'Ivoire has experienced an upsurge of cholera during the past nine months, forcing authorities to organise country-wide vaccination campaigns.
The radio said that although the origin of the epidemic had not yet been determined, the Ivorian water company (SODECI) was analysing the quality of the water supplied to the Man prison.
Samples of the patients' stool have been taken to Abidjan for laboratory tests.
The Man prison, which hosts about 4,500 prisoners, is among the most dilapidated and over-populated among the 33 detention Centres in Cote d'Ivoire.