cholera

Since 2021, there has been an increase in cholera cases and their geographical distribution globally. In 2021, 23 countries reported cholera outbreaks, mainly in the WHO Regions of Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. This trend has continued into 2022 with over 29 countries (Figure 1) reporting cholera cases or outbreaks. As of 30 November 2022, 16 of these have been reporting protracted outbreaks. Many of those countries reported higher case numbers and case fatality ratio (CFR) than in previous years. The average cholera CFR reported globally in 2021 was 1.9% (2.9% in Africa), well above acceptable (<1%) and the highest recorded in over a decade.

This year the number of cholera cases and cholera-associated deaths have surged globally following years of decline. Of particular concern are the outbreaks in 13 countries, which did not report cholera cases in 2021. Of these, some had not reported any cholera outbreaks for many years (between three and 30), and several are not considered cholera-endemic countries.i,ii The current situation represents a resurgence of the ongoing seventh pandemic of cholera which began in 1961.