"There have been 5,300 cases and 83 deaths recorded" since the outbreak of the cholera epidemic two months ago, Communications Minister El Hadji Lamine Indjai said. He added that the epidemic had spread to all corners of the west African country.

The most severely affected area is the capital city of Bissau -- where the first cases were reported in early June -- which has registered 4,147 cases. The western region of Biombo followed with 735 cases and 29 deaths, officials said.

An international appeal for aid at the start of July brought a response from former colonial ruler Portugal and China, as well as from several international charities, which sent medicines and other aid.

But health officials at the Simao Mendes de Bissau central hospital said the aid received from the international community so far amounts to "a drop in the bucket."

"We are very troubled, we ask for help because the situation is difficult and it runs the risk of degenerating if we don't get a reply to our appeal in terms of medicine over the coming days," the health ministry official overseeing the crisis, Tome Ca, told the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Cholera is a waterborne disease that causes rapid loss of body fluids and can be fatal if not treated immediately.

Indjai attributed rampant contagion to the rainy season and to a lack of sanitation.

"The rainy season and traditional septic tanks are contributing to the contamination of wells, from which 90 percent of the population gets its drinking water," he said.

Indjai also named "traditional ceremonies, such as those for the dead" as contributing factors. He called on religious and tribal leaders to cooperate in a nationwide awareness-raising campaign.

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