Cholera worldwide overview
Monthly update as of 30 March 2024
Since 1 February 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 27 184 new cholera cases, including 248 new deaths, have been reported worldwide. In addition, 39 462 new cases were reported or collected retrospectively from before 31 January 2024.
The five countries reporting most cases are Afghanistan (7 164), Democratic Republic of the Congo (4 830), Zimbabwe (3 992), Zambia (3 842) and Somalia (1 537). The five countries reporting most new deaths are Democratic Republic of the Congo (116), Zambia (66), Zimbabwe (33), Somalia (8) and Ethiopia (6).
New cases have been reported from Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 66 530 cholera cases, including 946 deaths, have been reported worldwide. In comparison, since 1 January 2023 and as of 24 March 2023, 167 741 cholera cases, including 1 502 deaths, were reported worldwide.
Geographical distribution of cholera cases reported worldwide from December 2023 to February 2024
Since the last update, new cases and new deaths have been reported from:
Asia:
Afghanistan: Since 01 January 2024 and as of 27 January 2024, 8 402 cases, including eight deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 20 March 2023, 22 848 cases, including 7 deaths were reported.
Pakistan: Since 01 January 2024 and as of 30 January 2024, 2 405 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 24 March 2023, no cases were reported.
In 2024, no updates have been reported by: Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand.
Africa:
Burundi: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 25 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 58 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 13 March 2023, 176 cases, including one death was reported.
Cameroon: Since 1 January 2024 and as of 31 January 2024, 138 cases, including 27 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 05 March 2023, 163 cases, including 10 deaths were reported.
Comoros: On 2 February 2024, Comoros declared a cholera outbreak linked to an imported cholera case from Tanzania. Cholera cases have been reported in Grande Comore, Moheli, and Anjouna. Since 2 February 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 132 cases, including 6 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 24 March 2023, no cases were reported.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Since 29 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 4 830 new cases, including 116 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 5 613 cases, including 129 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 19 March 2023, 7 243 cases, including 47 deaths were reported.
Ethiopia: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 1 509 new cases, including six new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 2 288 cases, including 18 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 12 March 2023, 955 cases, including 12 deaths were reported.
Kenya: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 37 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 165 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 6 March 2023, 2 721 cases, including 32 deaths were reported.
Malawi: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 176 new cases, including three new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 187 cases, including three deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 24 March 2023, 38 051 cases, including 1 124 deaths were reported.
Mozambique: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 1 472 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 4 035 cases, including seven deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 12 March 2023, 8 259 cases, including 47 deaths were reported.
Nigeria: Since 28 October 2023 and as of 29 February 2024, 169 new cases, including two new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 169 cases, including two deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 28 February 2023, 672 cases, including 25 deaths were reported.
Somalia: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 1 537 new cases, including eight new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 2 943 cases, including 26 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 12 February 2023, 1 307 cases, including one death was reported.
South Africa: Since 1 January 2024 and as of 20 January 2024, two cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 04 March 2023, four cases, including one death was reported.
Uganda: Since 29 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 25 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 38 cases, including one death has been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 24 March 2023, no cases were reported.
United Republic of Tanzania: Since 20 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 1 110 new cases, including five new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 1 274 cases, including six deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 13 March 2023, 72 cases, including three deaths were reported.
Zambia: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 3 842 new cases, including 66 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 16 857 cases, including 554 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 12 March 2023, 225 cases, including five deaths were reported.
Zimbabwe: Since 31 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 3 992 new cases, including 33 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 February 2024, 11 211 cases, including 157 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 05 March 2023, 58 cases were reported.
America:
Haiti: Since 1 January 2024 and as of 31 January 2024, 2 279 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 9 March 2023, 14 897 cases, including 212 deaths were reported.
ECDC assessment
Cholera cases have continued to be reported on the African continent and in South East Asia in recent months. Cholera outbreaks have also been reported in parts of the Middle East and in two countries in the Americas. Despite the number of cholera outbreaks reported worldwide, few cases are reported each year among travellers returning to the EU/EEA.
In this context, the risk of cholera infection in travellers visiting these countries remains low, even though sporadic importation of cases to the EU/EEA remains possible.
In 2022, 29 cases were reported by nine EU/EEA countries, while two were reported in 2021 and none in 2020. In 2019, 25 cases were reported in EU/EEA countries. All cases had a travel history to cholera-affected areas.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination should be considered for travellers at higher risk, such as emergency and relief workers who are likely to be directly exposed. Vaccination is generally not recommended for other travellers. Travellers to cholera-endemic areas should seek advice from travel health clinics to assess their personal risk and apply precautionary sanitary and hygiene measures to prevent infection. Such measures can include drinking bottled water or water treated with chlorine, carefully washing fruit and vegetables with bottled or chlorinated water before consumption, regularly washing hands with soap, eating thoroughly cooked food and avoiding consumption of raw seafood products
Actions
ECDC continues to monitor cholera outbreaks globally through its epidemic intelligence activities in order to identify significant changes in epidemiology and provide timely updates to public health authorities. Reports are published on a monthly basis. The worldwide overview of cholera outbreaks is available on ECDC's website.
Disclaimer: Data presented in this report originate from several sources, both official public health authorities and non-official, such as the media. Data completeness depends on the availability of reports from surveillance systems and their accuracy, which varies between countries. All data should be interpreted with caution as there may be areas of under-reporting and figures may not reflect the actual epidemiological situation.
