GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - The cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe seems to have passed its worst, with both the number of new infections and the rate of fatalities falling, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.
The number of new cases in the week ended March 14 was 2,076 -- still high, but down from 3,812 the week before and over 8,000 infections a week at the start of February, the WHO, a United Nations agency based in Geneva, said in a statement.
The weekly fatality rate fell to 2.3 percent in the week ended March 14 from a peak near 6 percent in January, it said.
"While data collection and verification remain a challenge throughout the country with the effect that weekly statistics are not always accurate or complete, the overall trend over the last 2 months is of a decreasing number of cases and deaths," the WHO said.
As of March 17, a total of 91,164 cases with 4,037 deaths had been reported since the start of the current outbreak in August 2008, it said.
Earlier this month new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said that official figures probably dramatically underestimated the real number of infections and deaths.
Cholera is a water-borne diarrhoeal disease that spreads through contaminated food and water. It is easily preventable and treatable but can cause severe dehydration and death.
Zimbabwe's health system has all but collapsed in the country's economic crisis, with hospitals battling shortages of drugs, high cases of HIV/AIDS and nurses and doctors frequently on strike for higher pay.
The deadliest outbreak of cholera in Africa in 15 years has spread to neighbouring countries including South Africa. (For the WHO statement go to: here ) (For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit www.alertnet.org ) (Reporting by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Robert Evans)
A  (OMS) declarou que o surto de  que assolou o país africano de  parece ter passado do pico.

A OMS afirma que “enquanto a recolha de dados e a verificação segue sendo um desafio em todo o país, já que as estatísticas semanais não são sempre exatas ou completas, a tendência geral, nos últimos dois meses é a diminuição do número de casos e mortes”.

O número de novos casos de cólera na semana que terminou em 14 de março, foi de 2.076, quase metade dos 3.812 infecções da semana anterior e 8.000 por semana no começo de fevereiro. A OMS declarou que a taxa de mortalidade por semana diminuiu de um máximo de 6% em janeiro para 2,3% este mês.

Um total de 91.164 casos foi notificado em 17 de março, já que a epidemia iniciou em agosto do ano passado, com um total de 4.307 mortes. A  de cólera foi o maior enfermidade mais mortífera na África nos últimos 15 anos.