Almost 1,800 people have been affected by a cholera outbreak in Guinea which has caused 67 deaths, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Conakry.

In the same period last year, just 30 cases of cholera were reported, resulting in zero deaths, according to OCHA.

“The epidemic is quite serious this year, but the government and humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to treat cases and prevent the spread of the disease in Guinea,” Madeleine Maka Kaba, OCHA spokesperson told IRIN.

The seafront capital Conakry where 2 million people live, many of them packed close together in squalid slums without running water or sanitation, is being hit hardest. 370 of the cases and 18 deaths have been recorded there.

Cholera is caused by a bacteria contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. The disease is most common in countries facing inadequate sanitation, overcrowding and lack of access to clean water. It is preventable with a course of vaccines, and infected people can be treated but if left uncared for will die.

The epidemic is also hitting hard in other towns and cities around the country, many of which have had neither piped water, sanitation or electricity for several years.

In Kindia, 135km east from Conakry, 46 cases and six deaths have been reported since Saturday when a woman infected with the disease travelled there from Conakry, according to the Ministry of Health.

Agencies working to prevent the spread of cholera in Guinea include the Guinean Ministry of Health, OCHA, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medecins sans Frontieres, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local organisations.

In Conakry, three cholera treatment centres have been set up by the Ministry of Health with help from UNICEF and MSF, according to Sergio Martin Esteso, who supervises the centres for MSF. “The Donka centre, the biggest treatment centre in Conakry, has seen 115 cases since 18 August,” Esteso said.

UNICEF is currently working with the local Conakry government, ICRC and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Conakry to distribute 17,000 bottles of ‘Sur Eau,’ a water treatment product for use in individual households, to sections of the city most affected by the outbreak. UNICEF has made the doxycycline antibiotic available to the Ministry of Health as well as one tonne of disinfectant.

The Guinean government has also spearheaded a communication campaign in partnership with UNICEF and the Red Cross, spreading messages via national and rural community radio concerning the prevention and treatment of cholera.

At least 15 public and private radio stations are carrying messages in local languages urging the population to take extra care during the cholera season.

“This campaign is carried every year during the cholera season, however this year efforts are more intense and focused,” OCHA’s Kaba told IRIN.