Spread Out Break Bulletin For Free

However, the coronavirus is still with us. We are in the process of shifting from the pandemic phase, which is the unhindered spread of an infectious disease, to the endemic chapter of COVID-19. That means the numbers of infections are no longer growing exponentially, and health care systems are not overwhelmed.

An outbreak can be declared an epidemic when the disease spreads rapidly to many people. In December of 2019, the news was full of reports of an epidemic in Wuhan, China. Similar to an outbreak, an epidemic is defined by being contained in a small population, but the number of cases is larger than normally expected.

Since 30 August 2023 and as of 25 September 2023, 69 357 new cholera cases, including 506 new deaths, have been reported worldwide. The five countries reporting most cases are Afghanistan (36 504), Cameroon (15 929), Democratic Republic of the Congo (7 221), Haiti (4 434) and Ethiopia (3 850).

The world did not have the right infrastructure in place to respond to Covid-19 and so it could not act at speed to contain the initial outbreak. To prevent pandemics, we need to invest in three areas: surveillance, manufacturing and co-ordinated research and development.

Improving global access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a critical step to reducing Africa's cholera burden. From the late 1990's through the first decade of the twenty-first century, sub-Saharan Africa has reported more cholera cases and more cholera deaths than any other region.

Since 1 January 2022, a cumulative total of 238 188 cholera cases has been reported to the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), including 4 327 deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.8% as of 10 September 2023 (Table 1).

An outbreak can be suspected if data from several cases display common characteristics (e.g., occurrence of many cases of a disease in the same period of time, in the same area, and with similar manifestations).

An infectious disease outbreak is an increase in the occurrence of a particular infectious disease above what is normally expected. For example, a cluster of children absent from school due to gastrointestinal illness could represent an outbreak if they are found to have the same infectious disease.

Current data for 2023 suggest that this global upsurge is continuing. Twenty-four countries are currently reporting active outbreaks, with some countries in the midst of acute crises. The increased demand for cholera materials has been a challenge for disease control efforts globally.

Overview. Since the last situation report on the multi-country outbreak of cholera was published on 4 August 2023 (covering data reported until 15 of July), and as of 15 August 2023, three new outbreaks of cholera and/or Acute Watery Diarrhoea were reported from Uganda, Sudan, and the Republic of the Congo.