Cholera Crisis Deepens in Africa, Surpassing โLastโข Year’sโค Death Toll: Africa CDC
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Cholera continues to be โthe most pressing public health threat facing Africa, with a surge โคin casesโ and fatalities already exceedingโ the total for all of 2024, theโข Africa Centers โคfor Diseaseโค Control โandโฃ Preventionโค (africa CDC) warned Thursday.
As ofโค September 6, 2025, 23 African countries have reported a combined โค239,754 cholera casesโข and over 5,274 deathsโฃ since the start of the year, resulting in a โข2.2% caseโ fatalityโ rate. This figure already โsurpasses the 4,725 โdeaths recorded across theโฃ continent in 2024.
“This is much higher than what โขwe had in 2024 โคin terms of theโ number of deaths,”โข stated Yapโ Boum II, deputyโค incident manager for mpox โat the Africa CDC, during an online media briefing. “A total โฃof 23 countries are currently affected,โค which highlights theโค need for a stronger multi-sectoral โคapproach.”
The outbreak is โoccurring against a backdrop of increasing public health emergencies across africa. The โฃAfrica CDC reports โคover 166 moderate-to-high risk public health events have been recorded so farโฃ in 2025,a trend expectedโ to continue andโ surpass 2024’s numbers.
Boum II attributed โขthe escalatingโ crisis toโข aโ confluence of โfactors,โ including climate โคchange andโข ongoing conflicts, โspecifically citing โขthe situation in โคSudan. “The crisisโค that we see in Sudan affected the accelerated spread of cholera in Sudan, Chad, โand Southโ Sudan,” โฃhe explained.Cholera is an acute โฃdiarrheal infection causedโ by ingesting contaminated foodโ or water. Without prompt treatment, the resulting severe dehydration โcan prove fatalโฃ within hours. โข
The Africa CDCโข identifies inadequate access to clean water and sanitationโค as the primary driver of recurring cholera outbreaks.โค This issue is compounded by instability and security challenges, as well as overburdened healthcare systems already strugglingโ to manage โmultiple disease outbreaks and public health emergenciesโ across the continent.