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Description of the Event
What happened, where and when?
For several months now, Cameroon is in the grip of multiple epidemics. This is associated with and exacerbated by the heavy rains with repeated floods observed since August 2022, as well as conflicts and large population movements in many regions of the country. These various elements create a conducive environment for the development of epidemics and put pressure on the Government's response capacity. Cholera and monkeypox epidemics are particularly alarming with major concern in the Far North, South-West, and North-West, and Littoral regions. On 17 October 2022, the Ministry of Health called on Cameroon Red Cross to increase support for the ongoing response to these epidemics.
Cholera has been rife in the regions for several months and has spread this year to all regions of the country with as of 17 November 2022: 20 active districts in 04 regions with active cases. According to data from the Ministry of Health consolidated in the epidemiological SITREP for week 45, a total of 13,730 cases were reported, with 295 deaths recorded.
Since October 2022, the Far North region of Cameroon is hard hit by the cholera outbreak, precisely in the Mayo Sava and Mayo Tsanaga Divisions with more than 305 cases recorded, including 45 in Fotokol and 94 in Mora (Mayo Sava), 118 in Mokolo (Mayo Tsanaga) where the Minawao refugee camp is highly affected with 86 cases and 3 deaths. The situation of flooding and continuous population movements during these periods, especially in the Far North, South-West, and Littoral regions, greatly exposed to the risk of cholera.
Concerning the Monkeypox outbreak, it was declared in several regions of the country by the health authorities. On 10 October 2022, the South-West Regional Delegate confirmed cases of Monkeypox. Despite the rapid setting up of the surveillance system, the epidemic spread rapidly to 6 regions, 5 of which are active with a total of 10 active health districts. Overall 92 cases of monkeypox were reported, 18 of which were confirmed out of 76 samples. The epidemic has caused three deaths with an average case fatality rate of 3.2% for the whole country. According to the Sitrep curve, there was a drastic increase in new cases between week 40 and week 45. That is 16 confirmed cases and 2 deaths distributed as follows: 9 cases confirmed in the South-West for 1 death, 2 in the North-West for 1 death, 4 in the Centre, and 1 case respectively in the South, the Littoral and the Far North, i.e. a case fatality rate of 2.7%. This situation clearly shows a progression of the epidemic and the need for a rapid containment to avoid a broader spread. It should be noted that in 2022, the number of monkeypox cases reported to WHO exceeded the total number of cases reported in the last 60 years combined (since 1958). Monkeypox is feared by the population because the disease is not well known by the general public.