Published on 12:00 AM, February 21, 2018

Malawi cholera outbreak kills 9

A cholera outbreak in Malawi described as "very difficult to contain" has claimed nine lives and affected a total of 541 people nationwide, health officials said on Tuesday.

The outbreak began in November near the landlocked southern African nation's northern border with Tanzania and has since spread to other regions of the country.

UNICEF's representative to Malawi Johannes Wedenig told local media that "as long as people in Malawi don't change the behaviour of using unsafe water, it'll be very difficult to contain".