Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi are currently at the epicenter of the deadliest cholera outbreak in Southern Africa in atleast a decade. Unfortunately, the stockpile of vaccines aimed at limiting the spread of the disease has been depleted.
Over 1,000 individuals have tragically succumbed to cholera, while tens of thousands across Africa have been infected with a series of deadly cholera outbreaks since the start of 2024. The nations hardest hit by this crisis include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia in Southern Africa, and Ethiopia further north.
With more than 740 cholera deaths since October 2023, Zambia is being battered by the worst outbreak ever. The highly contagious bacterial disease can lead to severe diarrhea and dehydration within hours of infection. When individuals receive prompt treatment, the mortality rate is typically less than 1%. However, in Zambia, one of the world’s poorest countries, the death rate exceeds 3%.
“Just imagine one household where the toilet is pretty close to the place where people fetch their water, so there is a transmission of contamination between the toilets and the water that people drink,” explained epidemiologist Yap Boum, the head of the Pasteur Institute of Bangui, a non-profit research foundation in the Central African Republic.
“Cholera is a marker of inequality, mostly affecting countries that are exposed to conflict, insecurity and poverty,” he said. Those factors are all present in each of the African nations currently battling cholera outbreaks.
