4,000 Ill With Cholera In S. Africa

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) - A cholera epidemic in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province has killed 31 people since the outbreak in mid-August, health officials said Sunday.

Another 4,000 people have fallen ill with the diarrhea-causing disease, with 69 new cases reported over a 24-hour period this weekend, the health department said.

Officials have been trucking clean water to rural communities and urging residents to boil or sterilize their water with bleach.

Cholera is one of nature's most efficient killers, sometimes claiming lives within hours of onset. The bacterium attacks the intestine of humans and can cause death by severe dehydration resulting from diarrhea.