The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported a significant global resurgence of cholera, with a total of 307,433 cases and 2,326 deaths recorded across 26 countries from January 1 to July 28, 2024. The Eastern Mediterranean Region has been the most affected, followed by the African Region, the South-East Asia Region, the Region of the Americas, and the European Region. Notably, no outbreaks were reported in the Western Pacific Region during this period.
The WHO highlighted that the global cholera response is currently hampered by a critical shortage of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV). Since January 2023, 18 countries have requested 105 million doses of the vaccine, nearly double the 55 million doses that have been produced during this period.
The global cholera situation has been classified as a grade 3 emergency by the WHO, the highest level of internal emergency classification within the organization. The WHO continues to assess the risk at the global level as very high, given the number of outbreaks, their geographic spread, and the ongoing shortage of vaccines and other resources.
