Cholera remains ‘serious public health risk’ as cases top 190,000: WHO

KIGALI, Rwanda

The number of registered cholera cases is increasing, with more than 4,200 people dying from the disease across Africa in 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

Patrick Abok, acting regional emergencies director at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, said the region is experiencing some of the toughest health emergencies in recent years.

He cited a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai province, cholera, mpox, measles and other diseases that continue to strain an already fragile health system.

“This year alone, more than 190,000 people have contracted cholera and over 4,200 have died from 23 countries, of which 16 still have active outbreaks,” Abok said at a virtual news conference from Angola, convened to brief reporters on the region’s health emergencies. “Access to safe water and hygiene facilities remains inadequate, and therefore cholera continues as a serious public health risk in places already facing a humanitarian crisis.”

Abok said the WHO is supporting cholera treatment centers, providing supplies and facilitating vaccinations to contain the disease spread -- with more than 15 million doses administered this year.

Cholera has swept through several African nations, including Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to poor sanitation and climate-related flooding.

The bacterial infection is caused by consuming contaminated water or food.