FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (ANS) -- A one-time Australian rock star who is now a missionary in Sierra Leone, has told the ASSIST News Service that Sierra Leone’s health ministry on Wednesday has announced that an outbreak of cholera in the West African country has killed 62 people in less than a month.

Fr. Dr. Themi Adams

He is Fr. Dr. Themi Adams, who told ANS that he western area, including the capital Freetown, and three towns in the northern and southern parts of the country have now been declared cholera outbreak areas.

“Emergency referral centres have been set up and hospitals and health clinics have been boosted with drugs to combat any escalation of the problem,” reported Fr. Themi.

“Between June 23 and Tuesday, 62 people have died and 3 721 cases have been reported in the areas concerned, statistics showed.”

He went on to say that the highest number of cases was in the town of Port Loko, where 21 children under the age of five have died.

“The outbreak has been traced to unsanitary conditions, acute water shortages in many parts of the country and migration from affected regions,” a health official said.

“The Sierra Leone Red Cross has mobilized 400 volunteers to control the spread of the disease and educate communities on how to prevent it,” said Fr. Themi.

“As the annual rainy season is under way, the water-borne disease has already left 700 people dead in West and Central Africa with more than 29 000 cases reported, UNICEF said last week.”

The Orthodox priest went on to say, “Poor water and sanitation systems give rise to the disease, an acute intestinal infection caused by ingesting contaminated food and water. It can kill in hours, according to the World Health Organisation.

“I think that we should set up a program to build proper sanitary toilets with running water and flushing toilets and introduce a hygiene program into the schools so as to teach the children to wash their hands.”

To read the extraordinary story of this man who went from being a rock star to a missionary in Africa, please go to: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12050035.htm 

Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. Dan has recently received two top media awards -- the "Passion for the Persecuted" award from Open Doors US, and one of the top "Newsmakers of 2011" from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 44 books, the latest of which is "Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s." To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 . Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.