A cholera outbreak has claimed 15 lives in a district 150 kilometers to the north of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Guruve Hotel has been temporarily closed after an employee was taken ill with suspected cholera while two other cases of the fatal disease have been reported at a business center in the Guruve district, The Sunday Mail said.

Portia Manangazira, the acting co-ordinator in epidemiology and disease control in the Ministry of Health and Chils Welfare, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the outbreak has been brought under control, but local media reported the new cases keep surfacing.

Manangazira said the ministry was yet to determine the source of the cholera. A total of 45 cases have been reported in the past two weeks while 15 have been fatal, she said.

She said the three new cholera cases reported last week were still being attended to at Guruve District Hospital.

Source: Xinhua