Zimbabwe Cholera Toll Reaches 978

GENEVA ~ The death toll from cholera in Zimbabwe has soared to 978, with 18,413 suspected cases reported across the southern African country, UN figures showed this week.
The country’s capital Harare is the worst-hit district, with 208 deaths and 8,454 suspected cases, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
Beitbridge, which border South Africa, was also badly affected. Some 91 people in the border town have been killed by the disease, while 3,546 are suspected to be suffering from it.

First Face Transplant Completed

CLEVELAND ~ A team of Ohio doctors have replaced 80 percent of a woman’s face in what is considered the world’s first nearly complete facial transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced on Tuesday.
It was the first such operation in the United States and the fourth known facial transplant to have been successfully performed to date. The procedure took place in recent weeks on a patient who was disfigured by a traumatic injury.
Facial transplants are controversial because they carry heavy risks and are performed to improve a patient’s quality of life rather than as a life-saving operation.