KAMPALA, June 14 (Xinhuanet) -- As rainy season in East Africa sets in, a suspected cholera outbreak has also hit Katanga, one of the slums in Kampala, killing eight people, three of them children.

    The Kampala District Medical Officer, Mubiru Messach told Xinhua by telephone on Tuesday that eight people have so far died after suffering from severe diarrhea and vomiting.

    He said that a team of medical officials have been sent to the slum to investigate whether it is cholera which has hit the area.

    He said that laboratory test have been carried out and are now waiting for the results.

    Local media on Tuesday quoted a local official in the area, Hassan Wasswa as saying that a sewer line broke down and sewage flowed into residents homes.

    According to Wasswa, the deaths have been occurring since last week.

    "A resident who died at Mulago Hospital on Friday was wrapped in a polythene bag and buried immediately," Wasswa said.

    Katanga is one of Kampala's congested slums with a population of about 2,000 people.

    Waterborne diseases such as cholera are common in East Africa's rainy season, especially in slum areas. Health officials in Kenyan capital Nairobi also confirmed an outbreak of cholera Monday, which is responsible for the death of seven people in the city's Motherland slums. Enditem