Cameroon: Cholera kills 29 in one week

29 people have died of cholera in Cameroon in the past week, the country's health minister announced on Friday (March 25).

The recent "outbreak of cases" is mainly in the western part of Cameroon.

"Between 16 and 22 March 2022, there was an outbreak of cholera in the South West with over 300 cases reported," wrote Manaouda Malachie on Twitter.

Twenty-seven people have died of cholera in three major towns in western Cameroon, and two in the capital Yaoundé.

Since October 2021, the cholera epidemic has claimed 62 lives with nearly 2,100 cases reported, according to. In a separate tweet, Dr Malachie said "The incident management system has been activated (...) to ensure coordination of measures taken and reactive vaccination."

Between January and August 2020, the country lost 66 lives to Cholera.

In early 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that there were 1.3 to 4 million cases of cholera and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths from the disease worldwide each year.

"Safe oral cholera vaccines should be used in conjunction with improved water supply and sanitation to limit cholera outbreaks and promote prevention in known high-risk areas," the UN agency said.

Cholera in Africa

Sub Saharan Africa holds the highest number of cholera cases and deaths than any other region, according to the centres for disease control and prevention.

The CDCP says the situation reflects the lack of access to basic healthcare as most cases of cholera can be treated with simple rehydration therapy