Attachments
Highlights Data as of 18 April 2023
• Since the last situation report on the multi-country outbreak of cholera was published on 28 March 2023, one new country reported a cholera outbreak: Eswatini reported a first case in April, related to cross-border transmission from Mozambique and a second case without travel history. In total, 24 countries have reported cases since the beginning of 2023.
• Since the beginning of 2023, outbreaks have spread further across African regions. In south-east Africa, an increasing number and geographic spread of cholera cases have been reported in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Tropical cyclone Freddy has made devastating damages in the region, leaving a large number people – 800 000 in Malawi and Mozambique - internally displaced, disrupted health care and surveillance systems in the region. While this situation report covers the period until 18 April 2023, heavy rains and floods have continued to impact different countries in the region, heightening the risk of further spread of cholera.
• In the Horn of Africa, the epidemiological situations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia remain a growing concern with increasing number of reported cases and further spreads to new areas. The outbreak is especially concentrated in the Mandera triangle, where borders of the three countries meet and population movement drives transmission across borders.
• The overall capacity to respond to the multiple and simultaneous outbreaks continues to be strained due to the global lack of resources, including shortages of the oral cholera vaccine, as well as overstretched public health and medical personnel, who are dealing with multiple disease outbreaks and other health emergencies at the same time.
• Based on the current situation, including the increasing number of outbreaks and their geographic expansion, as well as a lack of vaccines and other resources, WHO assesses the risk at the global level as very high.