Cholera continues killing in vulnerable regions

from MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, Kenya
NAIROBI, (CAJ News) – A WORSENING cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of at least eight people in East and Southern Africa since the beginning of the year.

The deaths are out of 941 cases in seven countries, out of 21 in the region, that have reported an outbreak of the water borne disease during the period.

These include Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Apart from Kenya, outbreaks from the rest of the countries spilled over from 2018.

Kenya accounts for 60,8 percent (572) of the total cases reported this year, followed by Somalia at 21 percent (198).

In 2019, highest case fatality rate (CFR) has been recorded in Zimbabwe at 8,9 percent.

Four people have died in 2019.

Cumulatively, a total of 10 696 cases including 69 deaths have been reported in Zimbabwe since the beginning of the outbreak in September 2018.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an analysis of cholera cases reported since the beginning of 2019 from five countries – Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe- reveals that overall, rural areas account for 73,6 percent (496 cases) of the total caseload while urban areas account for 26,4 percent.

Kenya accounts for the highest number of cases reported in rural areas (90,1 percent) and in urban areas (70,2 percent).

– CAJ News