Somalia: 2024 Cholera

[Shiloh]

Source: https://goachronicle.com/cholera-dea...e-january-who/

Cholera death toll in Somalia rises to 54 since January: WHO
By: GC NewsDesk
SourceVia UNI-India
Date: 15/03/2024

Mogadishu: An outbreak of cholera in Somalia has killed some 54 people since January, indicating the severity of the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

The WHO said 4,388 cumulative cholera cases have been reported, with all six states and 30 districts reporting cases.

“High-risk districts are located in the river basin,” the WHO said in its latest epidemiological update, released in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

The Somali Ministry of Health last week attributed the ongoing cholera outbreak in the country to a growing number of people, who lack access to safe water and proper sanitation...

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Cholera kills at least 54 people in Somalia




© WFP/Arete/Abdirahman Yussuf Mohamud
A woman wades through floodwaters in Hirshabelle State, Somalia (file photo).


March 25, 2024

Health At least 54 people have lost their lives to cholera in Somalia in recent months. Nine of the deaths occurred in the past week, the highest weekly toll of the year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday.

According to the office, the current outbreak of acute watery diarrhea in the Horn of Africa country is spreading with increasing numbers of cases being reported in the states of Hirshabelle, Puntland and South Africa. South West. Mogadishu, the capital, has seen a significant increase in cholera cases over the past two weeks.

According to the World Health Organization ( WHO ), since the start of 2024, the number of reported cases is three times higher than the average of the last three years. As of March 18, more than 4,383 cases have been recorded and 54 associated deaths in 32 districts.

Combination of drought, floods and malnutrition

This is an overall case fatality rate of 1.2%, above the emergency threshold set by the WHO. According to the UN World Health Agency, 62% of deaths concern children under 5 years old.

The combination of incessant rain, flooding and devastating drought has left children and families extremely vulnerable to the disease. The WHO, for its part, indicates that the epidemic is due to high levels of malnutrition among children, insufficient access to drinking water, open defecation practices, unhygienic latrines and inadequate sanitation in communities, among other factors.

Clean water and adequate sanitation can prevent cholera. But the UN estimates that 28% of Somali families do not have functioning sanitation facilities, while 34% practice open defecation and 80% have no hand-washing facilities. Hence the urgent need for clean water and sanitation facilities to prevent the cholera epidemic from spiraling out of control when the rainy season begins in a month's time.

Concerns with the start of the Gu rains

Indeed, humanitarian agencies expect the epidemic to intensify with the onset of the Gu rains (April to June), which are expected to be above normal, particularly in high-risk districts along the basins of the Shabelle and Juba rivers. “The next Gu rains are expected to trigger epidemics in areas where the disease has not been observed for years,” warns OCHA .

On the ground and as the rains approach, partners and Somali health authorities have intensified response and preparedness activities, guided by a six-month action plan requiring $5.9 million to implement. .

About 1.4 million vaccine doses have been approved for five districts: Daynile, Mahady, Buurhakaba, Bossaso and Balcad. In addition, 105 kits have been pre-positioned across the country, enough to treat 10,500 cases of foot and mouth disease/cholera.

But according to OCHA, the current response faces challenges, including lack of qualified health personnel to manage complicated cases, large population movements, low community awareness, poor infrastructure of treatment centers and inadequate funding.

Note that in 2023, more than 18,300 cumulative cases and 46 deaths have been reported in Somalia, more than half of which concerned children aged under 5 years.

https://news.un.org/fr/story/2024/03/1144316

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/...0418-0015.html


Somalia: Death Toll From Cholera Rises to 75, Spreading Rapidly
Published 18 April 2024

The ongoing cholera outbreak in Somalia is mainly attributed to a growing number of people with limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities.

On Thursday, Somalia’s ministry of health said that at least 75 people have died from cholera since January, amid a significant rise in new cases.

A total of 7,235 new cases have so far been reported, the Ministry of Health and Human Services said, adding that among these cases, 4,647, or 64 percent, were classified as severe.

"The overall case fatality rate for the cumulative cases reported in this period is 1.0 percent, although specific regions like Bossaso, Bulo Burte and Mahaday show higher rates," the ministry said in its latest epidemiological update released Tuesday evening in Mogadishu, the capital...