ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)

The global cholera situation is continuing to deteriorate, driven by conflict and poverty, posing a significant public health challenge across multiple regions, the World Health Organisation reported Friday.

Between January and August 17, 2025, a total of 409,222 cholera or Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) cases, and 4,738 deaths were reported globally, from 31 countries, with six of the 31 countries reporting case fatality rates above 1%, indicating serious gaps in case management and delayed access to care, the report showed.

Cholera is resurging in a number of countries, including some that had not reported substantial case numbers in years, with the Eastern Mediterranean Region recording the highest number of cases and the African Region recorded the largest number of deaths. This complicates containment efforts and strains fragile health systems, the WHO said.

Conflict, mass displacement, disasters from natural hazards, and climate change have intensified outbreaks, particularly in rural and flood-affected areas, where poor infrastructure and limited healthcare access delay treatment. These cross-border factors have made cholera outbreaks increasingly complex and harder to control.

"Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are the only long-term and sustainable solutions to ending this cholera emergency and preventing future ones. Given the scale, severity, and interconnected nature of these outbreaks, the risk of further spread within and between countries is considered very high. Without urgent and coordinated public health measures, based on strengthened surveillance, improved case management, WASH interventions, vaccination campaigns, and cross-border collaboration, cholera transmission is likely to expand across countries," the WHO warned.