Cholera worldwide overview
Monthly update as of 21 May 2024
Since 1 April 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 52 526 new cholera cases, including 529 new deaths, have been reported worldwide.
The five countries reporting the most cases are Syria (9 820), Afghanistan (8 754), Ethiopia (5 514), Yemen (4 276), and Haiti (4 204).
The five countries reporting the most new deaths are Zimbabwe (140), Haiti (108), Democratic Republic of the Congo (90), Comoros (70), and Ethiopia (43).
New cases have been reported from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 150 866 cholera cases, including 1 775 deaths, have been reported worldwide. In comparison, since 1 January 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, 241 560 cholera cases, including 1 880 deaths, were reported worldwide.
Geographical distribution of cholera cases reported worldwide from March 2023 to April 2024
Since the last update, new cases and new deaths have been reported from:
Africa
Burundi: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 56 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 163 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 8 April 2023, 247 cases, including one death was reported
Comoros: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 3 531 new cases, including 70 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 3 950 cases, including 82 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, no cases were reported.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 3 856 new cases, including 90 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 13 555 cases, including 285 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 23 April 2023, 16 817 cases, including 93 deaths were reported.
Ethiopia: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 5 514 new cases, including 43 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 12 974 cases, including 97 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 3 April 2023, 1 616 cases, including 30 deaths were reported.
Kenya: Since 29 February 2024 and as of 29 March 2024, 21 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 29 March 2024, 186 cases, including one death have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 4 April 2023, 5 243 cases, including 78 deaths were reported.
Malawi: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 27 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 243 cases, including three deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 20 April 2023, 40 615 cases, including 1 165 deaths were reported.
Mozambique: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 1 244 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 7 371 cases, including 12 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 9 April 2023, 23 105 cases, including 115 deaths were reported.
Nigeria: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 241 new cases, including three new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 559 cases, including seven deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, 1 629 cases, including 48 deaths were reported.
Somalia: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 3 725 new cases, including 27 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 8 681 cases, including 87 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 1 April 2023, 4 032 cases, including 15 deaths were reported.
South Africa: Since 20 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 148 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 150 cases, including one death has been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 6 April 2023, eight cases, including one death was reported.
Sudan: Since 31 December 2023 and as of 30 April 2024, 2 408 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 2 408 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, no cases were reported.
United Republic of Tanzania: Since 24 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 657 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 2 503 cases, including 32 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 13 March 2023, 72 cases, including three deaths were reported.
Zambia: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 910 new cases, including 20 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 19 848 cases, including 611 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 9 April 2023, 331 cases, including eight deaths were reported.
Zimbabwe: Since 29 March 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 3 151 new cases, including 140 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 18 197 cases, including 371 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, 593 cases, including 14 deaths were reported.
Asia
Afghanistan: Since 30 March 2024 and as of 27 April 2024, 8 754 new cases, including three new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 27 April 2024, 33 307 cases, including 16 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 20 March 2023, 22 848 cases, including seven deaths were reported.
Bangladesh: Since 24 February 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, three new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, six cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 8 April 2023, 34 060 cases were reported.
India: Since 18 February 2024 and as of 31 March 2024, 563 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 31 March 2024, 690 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 23 April 2023, 545 cases were reported.
Pakistan: Since 17 March 2024 and as of 24 March 2024, 437 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 24 March 2024, 5 313 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 23 April 2023, 7 314 cases were reported.
Syria: Since 23 December 2023 and as of 30 April 2024, 9 820 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 9 820 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 8 April 2023, 58 205 cases, including seven deaths were reported.
Yemen: Since 13 August 2023 and as of 30 April 2024, 4 276 new cases, including 23 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 4 276 cases, including 23 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 9 April 2023, 2 335 cases, including three deaths were reported.
Americas
Brazil: As of 21 April 2024, one new case has been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 21 April 2024, one case have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 30 April 2023, no cases were reported.
Haiti: Since 6 April 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 995 new cases, including 14 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2024 and as of 30 April 2024, 6 483 cases, including 119 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2023 and as of 14 April 2023, 18 426 cases, including 287 deaths were reported.
ECDC assessment
Cholera cases have continued to be reported on the African continent and in South East Asia in recent months. Cholera outbreaks have also been reported in parts of the Middle East and in two countries in the Americas. Despite the number of cholera outbreaks reported worldwide, few cases are reported each year among travellers returning to the EU/EEA.
In this context, the risk of cholera infection in travellers visiting these countries remains low, even though sporadic importation of cases to the EU/EEA remains possible.
In 2022, 29 cases were reported by nine EU/EEA countries, while two were reported in 2021 and none in 2020. In 2019, 25 cases were reported in EU/EEA countries. All cases had a travel history to cholera-affected areas.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination should be considered for travellers at higher risk, such as emergency and relief workers who are likely to be directly exposed. Vaccination is generally not recommended for other travellers. Travellers to cholera-endemic areas should seek advice from travel health clinics to assess their personal risk and apply precautionary sanitary and hygiene measures to prevent infection. Such measures can include drinking bottled water or water treated with chlorine, carefully washing fruit and vegetables with bottled or chlorinated water before consumption, regularly washing hands with soap, eating thoroughly cooked food and avoiding consumption of raw seafood products
Actions
ECDC continues to monitor cholera outbreaks globally through its epidemic intelligence activities in order to identify significant changes in epidemiology and provide timely updates to public health authorities. Reports are published on a monthly basis. The worldwide overview of cholera outbreaks is available on ECDC's website.
Disclaimer: Data presented in this report originate from several sources, both official public health authorities and non-official, such as the media. Data completeness depends on the availability of reports from surveillance systems and their accuracy, which varies between countries. All data should be interpreted with caution as there may be areas of under-reporting and figures may not reflect the actual epidemiological situation.
