A senior Malawian health official on Thursday said that the death toll from a cholera outbreak in the southern African country has surpassed 1,300 people.
Malawi had registered 40,284 cases and 1,316 deaths as of Wednesday in an outbreak that began in March 2022, with the country averaging over 500 new cases every day, according to Charles Mwansambo, who spoke during a briefing held by the World Health Organization’s Africa office (WHO).
Cholera outbreaks occur on a regular basis in Malawi, generally during the rainy season from November to March, but the yearly death toll is only around 100.
According to the World Health Organization, Malawi’s current outbreak is the deadliest on record, surpassing outbreaks in 1998-99 and 2001-02, which resulted in 860 and 968 deaths, respectively.
Malawi has launched two oral immunisation programmes, but a global spike in cholera infections has put a strain on vaccine supply.
Cases of cholera have been reported in other African nations, including Malawi’s neighbours Mozambique and Zambia. In East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are responding to outbreaks in the midst of a lengthy and hard drought, and cases have been reported in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria in West and Central Africa.
Cholera is primarily transmitted through contaminated food or water and can cause severe diarrhoea. While many people experience only moderate symptoms, if left untreated, it can kill within hours.