Malawi – Cholera outbreak (DG ECHO, Ministry of Health, UNICEF, WHO) (ECHO Daily Flash of 29 August 2022)

Since the declaration of a Cholera outbreak by the Ministry of Health of Malawi on 3 March, following the confirmation of a case in Southern Malawi, it has now spread to the northern and central regions including areas which historically have never reported such outbreaks.

On 3 August, the first case was confirmed in Nkhata Bay district on the Northern lakeshore, and the number of confirmed cases in that and neighbouring districts increased rapidly from 7 August onwards.

To date, WHO reports a total of 1,523 cumulative cases, with 60 deaths and a Case Fatality Rate of 3.9%. The Case Fatality Rate is highest in Mulanje (16.7%) but 12 districts in Malawi have now reported cases, and 5 districts still reported active cases in the last 14 days.

The Ministry of Health and partners are scaling up the response on Health, WASH, Nutrition and Social and Behaviour Change.