Publications

The cholera outbreak in the WHO African Region has affected 17 countries over the last two years. Six countries are categorized as being in acute crisis: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The southern region of the continent, now in the rainy season, is seeing resurging outbreaks. The increase in rainfall levels is causing floods in communities and landslides, with a heightened risk of outbreaks in countries not reporting new confirmed cases. The seasonality of cholera outbreaks is an issue for countries to consider, and there is a need to enhance preparedness and readiness, heighten surveillance, and institute preventive and control measures in communities and around border crossings to prevent and mitigate cross-border transmission.

In epidemiological week 04 of 2024, eight countries - Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe - reported a total of 5 341 new cases. Transmission is currently active in 14 countries, with no recent report of new cases from Eswatini (last case reported April 18), Republic of the Congo (last case reported July 26), and South Sudan (last case reported May 16).

Since the beginning of the year, as of 28 January 2024, the number of cholera cases and deaths reported to the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) was 26 436 and 727 deaths, respectively, with a case fatality ratio of 2.8%.

As of 28 January 2024, since 1 January 2022, a cumulative total of 312 338 cholera cases, including 5 811 deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.9% had been reported. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Nigeria account for 75.7% (236 358) of the cumulative cases and 68.2% (3 964) of all cumulative deaths reported.