Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care has issued updates on the cholera outbreak that has bedevilled the Southern African region. In a report seen by Pindula News, the ministry said as of February 5, 2024, there have been 22,790 suspected cases of cholera, with 2,395 cases confirmed. The number of recoveries stands at 22,090, while there have been 71 confirmed deaths and 430 suspected deaths.
On February 4, there were 22,632 suspected cholera cases, with the same number of confirmed cases and 21,940 recoveries. The death toll remained at 71, with 428 suspected deaths. The Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) has been administered to 697,550 people as of February 3.
Earlier, on February 1, there were 22,105 suspected cases, 2,388 confirmed cases, and 21,378 recoveries. The death toll remained at 71, with 421 suspected deaths. By January 31, a total of 103,735 people had received the Oral Cholera Vaccine.
The situation on January 31 showed 21,835 suspected cholera cases, with 2,387 confirmed cases and 21,134 recoveries. The death toll remained at 71, with 416 suspected deaths.
On January 30, there were 21,640 suspected cases, 2,381 confirmed cases, and 20,951 recoveries. The death toll remained at 71, with 414 suspected cases.
Health experts emphasise that addressing the cholera outbreak requires a coordinated effort involving the health sector and active participation from the community.
Cholera situation across Africa
The cholera situation in Africa is severe and has been going on for a long time in many countries. From January 2023 to January 24, 2024 (which is 13 months), there have been a total of 252,934 reported cases of cholera and 4,187 deaths. This means that the case fatality rate (CFR) is 1.6%, which is the percentage of people who died out of the total number of cases. The reports come from 19 African Union Member States. The majority, about 72.5%, of these cases are from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. This indicates that the SADC region is particularly affected by the cholera outbreak in Africa.
In response to the cholera outbreaks, a meeting was held virtually among Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries on February 2. The participants expressed concern about the ongoing challenges in combating the recurrent outbreaks and discussed the progress made in addressing the situation.