Indian monsoon sparks cholera outbreak

As many as 70 people have been killed by an outbreak of cholera that followed heavy rains and poor sanitary conditions in India, an official said last night.

Chinmoy Basu, a senior official in Orissa state’s health and family welfare department told reporters: “An outbreak of cholera in two southern districts of Rayagara and Koraput has claimed seventy lives so far. All the deaths have occurred within the span of the last one month.”