Harare - The summer rains that have started falling in Zimbabwe could aggravate a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1600 people since August, the international Red Cross said.
The world relief agency said it was preparing for the worst in Zimbabwe, warning there was also a risk of floods that could prevent relief workers accessing affected areas in addition to destroying crops in a country facing acute food shortages.
"We are just preparing for the worst," said Francoise Le Goff, the head of southern African operations of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC).
"The worst could be heavy rains causing not only this cholera to spread, but floods," added the IRCRC official who had just returned from a trip to Zimbabwe to assess the country's humanitarian situation.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) cholera has killed 1 608 people out of 30 365 reported cases since the outbreak began in August. The WHO estimates that up to 60 000 people could be infected with cholera before the disease is brought under control.
The cholera epidemic, coupled with acute food shortages, has highlighted Zimbabwe's worsening economic and humanitarian crisis that critics blame on mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country since its 1980 independence from Britain.
Western leaders and some African leaders alarmed by rising deaths due to cholera have in recent weeks stepped up calls for Mr Mugabe's resignation, while prominent African figures such as Kenyan Premier Raila Odinga have said the Zimbabwean leader should be forced out through military means if he will not quit voluntarily.
However the African Union led by the continent's economic powerhouse, South Africa, has rejected calls to oust Mr Mugabe and insists a power-sharing government between the veteran ruler and the opposition is the best way to end Zimbabwe's political, economic and humanitarian crises.
Mr Mugabe, opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara signed an agreement to form a power-sharing government about four months ago.
But the agreement brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki has failed to take off as Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai disagrees over who should control key ministries and other top government posts.
