The cholera epidemic has already killed 141 people in Mozambique since it began in September 2022, the country’s health ministry said Thursday in a disease monitoring bulletin.
The number of cases is around 32,000, so the overall fatality rate is low (0.4%) but still relevant for a treatable disease that can be prevented by vaccination.
Nearly half of the cases are in the province of Zambezia, in the center of the country, hit particularly hard by the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy in February and March.
The province accounts for the highest number of deaths: 38.
“This is the largest epidemic of this disease in the last 20 years,” Health Minister Armindo Thiago said in early May, noting, however, that the number of cases is declining as vaccination advances.
Cholera is a disease that causes severe diarrhea that is treatable but can lead to death from dehydration if not treated promptly.
The disease is largely caused by eating food and water contaminated by the lack of sanitation.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, and this situation exacerbates the resistance of infrastructure and services that prevent the disease.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned two weeks ago that by 2025 there will be a shortage of cholera vaccines worldwide and that one billion people in 43 countries could be infected with the disease.