A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed at least 484 people since August, according to the UN.
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Cholera can be treated easily but hospitals lack medicines and staff.
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The BBC's Peter Biles reports from the South African town of Musina, near the border with Zimbabwe, that cholera patients are being treated at an emergency centre on the lawn in front of the hospital.
One cholera victim from Harare told him that on Zimbabwe's side of the border, toilets had not functioned for one month, and people were "defecating everywhere".
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Zimbabwe's government has blamed its crisis on Western sanctions it says are aimed at trying to bring down President Robert Mugabe.
But the sanctions imposed after allegations of electoral fraud and political violence are aimed at Mr Mugabe and his close associates and consist of travel bans and a freeze on their foreign assets.