Mogadishu: Somalia said a cholera outbreak is spreading rapidly across the country after severe flooding caused by El Nino rains in late 2023. In its latest update released on Saturday evening, the Ministry of Health and Human Services said a total of 2,567 new cases of cholera and 23 deaths have been reported since January, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Of these cases, 1,527 (59 per cent) were classified as severe, indicating the severity of the disease. Of the reported cases, 1,276 (50 per cent) were women, highlighting the susceptibility of women to cholera infection,” the ministry said. According to the ministry, about 1,581 cases (62 percent) were children under five years of age, underscoring the increased risk faced by this age group.
The ministry also said 23 deaths (0.9 per cent case fatality rate) were recorded during the period, underscoring the severity of the outbreak. According to the World Health Organization, transmission of AWD/cholera has occurred uninterrupted since 2022 in Somalia and since the 2017 drought in the Banadir region.
The ministry said that in 2023, there were more than 18,304 cumulative cases and 46 deaths in Somalia, including more than 10,000 children under five years of age (55 percent). Cholera is an acute intestinal infection spread through food and water, often feces, contaminated with bacteria.
