GENEVA -- More than 30,000 people in Zimbabwe have been diagnosed with cholera, the World Health Organization said Thursday, as the number of those contracting the deadly disease continues to mount.

As many as 31,656 suspected cases were diagnosed to date with one third of them in the capital of Harare, the WHO said.

The organization last reported some 29,131 suspected cases on Monday and 1,564 deaths from the water-borne disease.

Cholera also continues to plague neighboring South Africa, where it has killed 13 people, mainly in the Limpopo border region where nine people have died from a total of 1,334 suspected cases, the WHO said citing South African sources.

United Nations aid agencies fear Zimbabwe may be hit with up to 60,000 cases, with the upcoming rainy season likely to spread the disease more easily.

The Red Cross announced on Wednesday that it would send seven international emergency response teams to the impoverished southern African country to help fight the spread.

Zimbabweans are also struggling against hyper-inflation, severe food shortages and chronic political instability.