AT least 24 people have died from cholera in Somalia this year. A majority of those that have succumbed to the water-borne disease are children under the age of five. A total of seventeen children have so far been confirmed dead.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the deaths have been documented from 7442 cases. The overall case fatality rate is 0,3 percent. In the last week of documentation, there have been 519 new suspected cases with three associated deaths.

This is an ongoing outbreak as Somalia has had uninterrupted cholera transmission in 28 drought- affected districts since 2022 and in Banadir region since the drought period of 2017.

“WHO and health partners have scaled up implementation of cholera response interventions in drought affected districts focussing on Jubaland state which is the current epicentre of the current outbreak,”
a WHO spokesperson stated.

Cholera is a bacterial disease causing severe diarrhoea and dehydration, usually spread in water. It is fatal if not treated right away. Floods that recently hit the Horn of Africa country are feared to accelerate the spread of cholera.

– CAJ News