Brussels, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has allocated a further €1.5 million in emergency humanitarian aid to fight the increasing incidence of cholera in Angola. More than 36,000 cases have been reported since the first outbreak on 13 February. Eleven of Angola's 18 provinces are now affected, including the capital Luanda. More than 1,300 people have died and, according to UNICEF, 35% of the victims are children under five. This new aid comes on top of an initial emergency grant of €1.5 million announced by the Commission on 21 April. The cholera outbreaks in suburban areas of several Angolan cities are the result of extremely heavy rains over much of southern Africa since January, compounded by poverty, a lack of basic sanitation and poor hygiene. Epidemiologists now expect as many as 30,000 new cases over the coming two to three months. The first outbreak was declared in the slum districts of Sambizanga and Ingombota (Boavista) in Luanda on 13 February. Since early April, the outbreak has spread extremely rapidly to other areas of the capital and ten other provinces of the country (Bié, Bengo, Benguela, Huambo, Huila, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul, Malanje, Uige and Zaire). The emergency funds have been mobilised by the Commission's humanitarian aid department (ECHO) and are being channelled through humanitarian organisations such as Médecins du Monde; Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and UN agencies like UNICEF and the WHO. DG ECHO comes under the direct responsibility of Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid.