At a Glance

Nearly two weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated Mozambique, the country faces a new threat.The number of cholera cases jumped to more than 500. Mozambique confirms at least one person had died with the disease.

The number of cholera cases in Mozambique, which was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Idai, has risen to more than 500, and the country has confirmed the first death caused by the disease.

The number of people infected with the disease, which is spread by contaminated water, has jumped to 517, according to the Associated Press, citing numbers from Mozambique national health official Ussein Isse.

The first cases of the disease, which causes acute diarrhea and dehydration, were reported last week. Emergency clinics have been set up across the coastal city of Beira, which was hit hard by the cyclone.

"There are seven emergency cholera treatment centers operational in Beira and two more being set up. Two additional centers are being set up in Nhamatanda," David Wightwick, the World Health Organization's team leader in Beira, told the Associated Press.

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Doctors Without Borders has said it is seeing about 200 likely cholera cases a day in Beira, AP reported.

Gert Verdonck, Doctors Without Borders' emergency coordinator for the city, said cholera cases are suspected in the badly hit areas of Buzi, Tica and Nhamathanda.

At least 815 people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi have been reported killed by the cyclone or flooding it caused before it hit on March 14. The death toll has increased to 515 in Mozambique and 60 in Malawi, according to Reuters. The government in Zimbabwe says 185 people were killed there, but the U.N. migration agency puts the toll at 259.

The storm wiped out sanitation systems throughout Mozambique, leaving 1.8 million residents at risk from water-borne diseases. To combat the spread of cholera, the World Health Organization sent 900,000 cholera vaccines to the country, AP reported.

A young girl walks into the water outside a school setup as a displacement centre at Inhamizua, outside of Beira, Mozambique, Tuesday, March 26, 2019.

(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Chinese doctors and emergency workers have arrived in Beira to fight the outbreak, and the U.S. military is airlifting food and relief supplies to Mozambique from South Africa.

Round-the-clock flights are delivering supplies from the U.N. World Food Program from King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, said Robert Mearkle, U.S. embassy spokesman.

He said the commodities airlifted from Durban were from the World Food Program's internal stock.

"Separately from these shipments, the United States has provided nearly $3.4 million in additional funding for the World Food Program to deliver approximately 2,500 metric tons of rice, peas, and vegetable oil to affected people in Sofala, Zambezia, and Manica provinces," said Mearkle. "This lifesaving emergency food assistance will support approximately 160,000 people for one month."

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Cholera is caused by the bacteria and can be life-threatening if not treated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, an estimated 95,000 people die from the infection each year. The disease is contracted by drinking water or eating food contaminated by the bacteria and can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.

School children pick up books that were left to dry in the sun after their school was damaged by Cyclone Idai, in Inchope Mozambique, Monday March 25, 2019. Cyclone Idai's death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers rush to restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)