"More than 200 children suffering from the disease were admitted during the month of June," The Herald newspaper quoted an official at the government-run Mpilo Hospital as saying.

"Ten children have died. Technicians at our laboratories are analysing stools to determine the cause of the disease."

An official at a private hospital in the city said at least three children had died of diarrhoea at the hospital.

Outbreaks of diarrhoea diseases such as cholera are common in Zimbabwe, especially during the rainy season.

Diarrhoea thrives in places without proper sanitation. The disorder is preventable with clean water and proper sewage.

Over 4,000 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe in an outbreak which affected nearly 100,000 people in 2008.

According to UNICEF, diarrhoea is responsible for 7.7 percent of deaths in Africa.