A worker cleans the Garissa County Referral Hospital in Garissa, northern Kenya, June 30, 2016. Five people have been admitted at the hospital following an outbreak of cholera in Boka village in the neigbouring Tana River County. Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. (Xinhua/Ingati Stephen)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners need to act in an urgent manner to respond to the outbreak of cholera in the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 16 people have died in the first cholera outbreak since 2011, a press release said here Saturday.

The outbreak was declared by the CAR authorities on Aug.10 Sixty cases, including at least seven children, were recorded along the Oubangui River, the press release said.

"Young children, especially those under five years of age, are particularly vulnerable to this deadly disease," said Mohammed Malick Fall, UNICEF representative in the CAR. "We need to act quickly to ensure this easily preventable disease is not taking more lives."

The World Health Organization also confirmed the cholera outbreak, saying that 13 deaths were reported from from Djoujou, Damara and Bangui cities.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by ingestion of food or water that has been contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera, which is found in faecal matter.

The outbreak started in Djoukou, in Kemo district, a hard-to-reach area located abut 100 kilometers up the river from the capital Bangui.

Communities in this area have little or no access to clean water and use the Oubangui river as their primary source of water, the press release said. "Some of those areas are very difficult, if not impossible, to access by road. Affected people travelling in overcrowded boats have carried the bacteria downstream."

In collaboration with the CAR's Ministry of Health and partners, UNICEF is providing medicine, clean water, water purification tablets and hygiene kits to the affected communities, it said.

In addition, community mobilizers in the affected areas are educating the public on prevention measures such as drinking only safe water, washing hands with soap, eating cooked food and avoiding open defecation, it added. "Community mobilisation is key to prevent the spread of the disease since most of the affected villages have no access to electricity or telephone network."