• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published global cholera statistics for 2023, showing an increase in cases and deaths.  

• The number of reported cholera cases increased by 13 per cent and deaths by 71 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022. Over 4,000 people died last year from a disease that is preventable and easily treatable. 

• Conflict, climate change, inadequate safe water and sanitation, poverty, underdevelopment, and population displacement due to emerging and re-emerging conflicts and disasters from natural hazards all contributed to the rise in cholera outbreaks last year. 

• As many as 45 countries reported cases, an increase from 44 the previous year and 35 in 2021. About 38 per cent of the reported cases were among children under five years of age.

• Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi and Somalia continued to report large outbreaks of over 10,000 suspected or confirmed cases, with Ethiopia, Haiti, Mozambique and Zimbabwe adding to the tally in 2023.

• Preliminary data show that the global cholera crisis continues into 2024, with 22 countries currently reporting active outbreaks. 

• Although the number of cases reported so far in 2024 is lower compared to the same period last year, 342,800 cases and 2,400 deaths have already been reported to WHO across all continents. 

Key facts about Cholera:

• Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. 

• Cholera remains a global threat to public health and is an indicator of inequity and lack of social development. 

• Researchers have estimated that every year, there are 1.3 to 4 million cases of cholera, and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide due to the infection.

• Cholera is an extremely serious disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea with severe dehydration. 

• It takes between 12 hours and five days for a person to show symptoms after consuming contaminated food or water. 

• Cholera affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if untreated.

• Most people infected with Vibrio cholerae do not develop any symptoms, although the bacteria are present in their faeces for 1-10 days after infection. This means the bacteria are shed back into the environment, potentially infecting other people.

• Cholera can be endemic or epidemic. A cholera-endemic area is an area where confirmed cholera cases were detected during the last three years with evidence of local transmission (meaning the cases are not imported from elsewhere). 

• A cholera outbreak/epidemic can occur in both endemic countries and in countries where cholera does not regularly occur.

• Cholera is often predictable and preventable. It can ultimately be eliminated where access to clean water and sanitation facilities, as well as good hygiene practices, are ensured and sustained for the whole population.

• Measures for the prevention of cholera mostly consist of providing clean water and proper sanitation to populations who do not yet have access to basic services, as well as vaccination with oral cholera vaccines. 

• Health education and good food hygiene are also essential.

• Since the creation of the global stockpile in 2013, more than 50 million doses of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) have been successfully used in various settings through mass campaigns.

• While vaccination is an important tool, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene remain the only long-term and sustainable solutions to ending cholera outbreaks and preventing future ones.

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