Hector Duarte Jr. - All Headline News Staff Reporter

So far, this year's epidemic across West Africa has sickened tens of thousands of people and killed about 800 amid heavy rains and subsequent flooding, particularly in Dakar, Senegal's capital

Public health officials express concern Tuesday about possible chemical contamination of waters flooding New Orleans, saying no one yet knows whether industrial leaks occurred.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt says a task force led by medical and environmental authorties are working to monitor for disease outbreaks, and will decide when New Orleans is safe to re-inhabit

A cholera outbreak in northeastern Nigeria kills 30 people.

The state government says medical teams have already started working to check the spreading of the bacterial infection of the intestine

Officials with the United Nations warn a cholera epidemic, rapidly spreading throughout West Africa, has already claimed 500 lives and infected thousands more.

Herve Ludovic de Lys, head of the UN humanitarian coordination office in the region, says the outbreak needs an immediate response

A health expert on Tuesday revealed that more than 2,000 suspected cases of cholera have been detected in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

He also cautioned that Kabul is on the brink of an epidemic. "An epidemic is about to break out here. Over two thousand cases have been reported so far that would meet the case definition of cholera," The AP quoted Fred Hartman, the health expert, as saying