KIGALI, Rwanda

More than 6,800 people have died from cholera outbreaks sweeping across Africa this year, marking a remarkable increase compared to last year, according to data released Thursday by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

According to the data, the current outbreak has claimed the lives of 6,854 people with a case fatality ratio of 2.3% while 297,394 cases have been recorded across 23 African countries.

Speaking during a virtual press conference from Namibia, Yap Boum II, deputy incident manager at the Africa CDC, said there is an increase of almost 50,000 cases compared to last year, in the two months to the end of the year.

He warned that the cases may surge further in the remaining months of the year due to torrential rains in affected countries if action measures are not implemented on time.

The most affected countries are Angola and Burundi, attributed to poor sanitation coupled with a lack of access to adequate clean water.

“There is an escalation of cholera in Burundi, while Angola is experiencing an exponential second wave,” he said.

Declines have been observed in South Sudan, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo over recent weeks, according to Africa CDC, but the countries remain with the highest burden.

Cholera, a bacterial infection, is caused by consuming contaminated water or food.