Mogadidhu, Somalia (PANA) - Cholera has killed nine people in the last week across Somalia and more than 50 in recent months, UN aid teams said on Monday.
The alert from UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirms that the preventable disease is spreading, with increasing numbers of infections reported in Hirshabelle, Puntland and South West states.
The outbreak is expected to escalate when the Gu rains start next month, especially in high-risk districts located along the Shabelle and Juba River basins.
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, has also seen a spike in cholera cases in the last two weeks while the UN health agency, WHO, reported three times more infections so far in 2024 than in the last three years.
More than six in 10 of the deceased have been children under-five in an outbreak that’s being driven by high levels of malnutrition, poor access to clean water and toilets along with open defecation.
As part of the ongoing aid response, about 1.4 million cholera vaccine doses have been approved. More than 100 cholera kits have also been prepositioned across the country, with enough supplies to treat 10,500 patients.
-0- PANA MA 26March2024
