West Africa: Rampant cholera prompts UN regional appeal

The United Nations is asking donors for US $3.2 million to help six West African countries fight cholera, which the UN says has killed at least 700 people and stricken over 42,000 in the region since June. This is the first appeal of its kind for West Africa, where cholera appears every rainy season but where unusually heavy rains this year sent infections skyrocketing. The movement of populations throughout the region – including religious pilgrimages and rural-to-urban migration – also contributes to the spread.