YAOUNDE, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon on Friday began vaccinating people aged one year and above against cholera in three regions to halt an outbreak of the epidemic that has so far killed over 100 people, a senior health official said.

The campaign will run from April 8 to April 12 and a total of 842,100 doses of the vaccine will be administered to 842,086 persons in the three most affected regions of South, Littoral and Southwest, the country's Minister of Public Health, Malachie Manaouda told a press conference Thursday night while officially launching the campaign.

"This is the first phase of the campaign. The second phase will be extended to other regions. This exercise is very important and people should not shun away from vaccination," Manaouda told reporters during the press conference in the capital Yaounde.

He said hygiene and sanitation and supply of clean water will also be part of the campaign.

Manaouda said on Wednesday that a total of 4,627 confirmed cases of cholera have been reported in six regions since the outbreak of the epidemic in the Central African nation in October last year, among which were 105 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 2.3 percent.

Cholera is a highly virulent disease characterized in its most severe form by a sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea that can lead to death by severe dehydration. Enditem

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