YAOUNDE, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Hospitals in Cameroon's Southwest region have been swamped with hundreds of patients as cholera death toll surged to 44, a health official in the region told Xinhua on Thursday.

       "It is a very serious situation," Filbert Eko Eko, public health chief of the region, said.

       Over 1,700 cases have been reported in the region from March 11 to 23, according to figures released by the Southwest Regional Delegation of Public Health.

       At least 14 people died of the disease between Wednesday and Thursday, raising the death toll to 44 in the last two weeks, Eko said.

       "We have cases practically all over our region. Our three major treatment centers are completely overpowered," Eko toll Xinhua on phone.

       He said the hospitals do not have enough beds for patients, some of whom are staying in tents or along hospital corridors.

       The situation is dire in the seaside resort town of Limbe, where at least 400 infections were detected on Wednesday, according to officials.

       Eko blamed the outbreak mainly on the lack of clean water and public latrines in the region.

       On Wednesday, the region's governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai, urged local officials to build toilets in the affected areas within 30 days.