A cholera outbreak in southern Zimbabwe has killed 36 people and put another 400 people in hospital.

Officials in Beitbridge, 370 miles south of Harare, blamed the outbreak on water shortages and poor sanitation facilities.

"There is a serious outbreak of cholera in Beitbridge ... the number of casualties has increased to 36," medical officer Takaitei Kanongara said.

Cholera is a water-borne disease that causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea, and can rapidly lead to death from dehydration if not treated.

Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, is embroiled in a severe economic crisis and has the world's highest inflation rate of more than 230 million per cent.

The crisis has forced many public hospitals to close down, and most towns are suffering from intermittent water supply, broken sewers and uncollected garbage.

Meanwhile, officials in the capital Harare have recorded 37 deaths in recent weeks due to cholera. But a civic rights group, the Combined Harare Residents' Association, refutes this number and claims that more than 100 people have died.

Doctors in Harare have been holding protests against hospitals being closed due to the nation's economic collapse.

Police have cordoned off Parirenyatwa Hospital, the country's largest public health facility, to stop a protest march by 200 doctors, nurses and other health workers.

Simbarashe Ndoda, a representative of the striking doctors, said the protesters wanted the government to re-open the hospital, which is only admitting patients in critical condition.

"There are no drugs and people are dying, we want the government to address these issues," Mr Ndoda said, adding that health workers were also pressing for better pay.

"This has to be the only country in the world where a doctor's salary can only buy a loaf of bread. That is madness."

Hopes are fading that a power-sharing deal signed by President Robert Mugabe and opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai on September 15 would usher in a unity government to rescue the economy, with both leaders fighting over the control of ministries.

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