Cholera kills 45 more Somali children

Cholera has claimed the lives of at least 45 more children in war-torn Somalia, while hundreds of others have been hospitalized.

According to Somali medical officials, at least 45 children have died of cholera within the past hours, while another 658 have been taken to hospitals in south Mogadishu, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday.

Physicians say the water-borne disease has been rapidly spreading within the past 24 hours in many parts of southern Somalia.

According to the World Health Organization, some 75 percent of all cases of highly infectious diarrhea are among children under the age of five.

Cholera is confirmed in Banadir, Bay, Mudug and Lower Shabelle regions of Somalia, and the number of acute diarrhea cases has increased dramatically in the last few months.

Reports say that aid agencies can take food supplies to only a limited number of people affected by the disaster since insecurity hinders efforts in much of the country's south.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of its former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

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