Ivory Coast announces cholera outbreak after 7 deaths

Ivory Coast announced a cholera outbreak on Thursday, confirming seven deaths from the disease.

Daniel Kouadio Ekra, head of the National Institute of Public Hygiene, confirmed the epidemic, saying stool sample analyses conducted by the Pasteur Institute of Côte d’Ivoire, detected “cholera vibrio.”

“On May 25, 2025, the Port-Bouët-Vridi health district reported five deaths in the village of Vridi Akobrate,” he said.

So far, 45 cases have been recorded in Vridi Akobrate, in the outskirts of Abidjan, the capital, including the seven fatalities. All of the deaths occurred within the community in the first two days.

Ivory Coast has experienced several major cholera epidemics since the 1990s.

The World Health Organization calls cholera a disease of poverty, as it thrives where there is poor sanitation and a lack of clean water. Africa has had eight times as many deaths this year as the Middle East, the second-most affected region.

Historically vulnerable, Africa is even more at risk as it faces the worst impacts of climate change as well as the effect of the El Niño weather phenomenon, health experts say. In what’s become a perfect storm, there’s also a global shortage of cholera vaccines, which are needed only in poorer countries.

“The government calls on the population to remain vigilant, namely to consume safe drinking water, avoid street water bags, and wash their hands regularly," Kouadio Ekra said on Thursday. ____