Brazzaville – Cholera cases are falling across Africa, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, but the number of deaths is mostly unchanged and heavy flooding is increasing the risk of the disease spreading.
The UN agency said that 2 880 cases of cholera were recorded across the continent in the week ending on February 26 – a 37% decline compared to the previous week.
But the patients were dying at a similar rate. Eighty-one cholera deaths were recorded during the week ending on February 26, compared to 82 recorded the week before.
Malawi, is suffering its worst-ever epidemic. Heavy rainfall in that country, as well as in South Africa and Zambia, is fuelling the spread of the disease, the WHO said.
As weekly #cholera cases in the affected #African ? countries decline, heavy flooding due to seasonal rains & tropical cyclones in southern #Africa are raising the risk of the disease spreading and threatening to undermine outbreak control efforts ?? https://t.co/5cihr63JFN pic.twitter.com/IyLTVB6Ho9
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) March 2, 2023
Medical teams face increased difficulties operating in areas where downpours have damaged roads and health infrastructure, for example.
In Madagascar, tropical cyclones have caused flooding and contributed to a spike in malaria cases this , according to the WHO, while increasing the risk of a cholera outbreak.
Last month, the WHO warned that Africa was suffering from an exponential rise in cholera cases.
Cholera, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting, is contracted from a bacterium that is generally transmitted through contaminated food or water.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@WHOAFRO
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