Dar Es Salaam — The authorities in Tanzania's northeastern district of Handeni have ordered the closure of schools following a cholera outbreak that has resulted in 12 deaths, say officials.

Nsachris Mwamaja, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told a news conference on 5 October that Handeni was the hardest-hit district in the northeastern region of Tanga, with 511 out of 600 recorded cases in the country so far.

"The government is doing its best to get the situation under control," Mwamaja said. "Sufficient supplies of medicines and medical personnel have been sent to the affected areas."

Handeni district commissioner Seif Mpembenwe said schools would remain closed until 1 November.

"We are glad the situation is improving and the government's appeals in the [sensitization] campaign were well received; we hope by the end of the month the situation will be much better," he said.

Mpembenwe said residents had been advised to dig and use toilets, as well as boil drinking water to prevent cholera, an acute illness characterized by watery diarrhoea.

Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and is spread by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacteria.

The disease has dogged Tanzania on and off, often reported in the Indian Ocean islands of Pemba and Zanzibar, where three people died of the disease in September.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]