World Health Organization: Major Cholera Outbreak

The World Health Organization announced that a cholera epidemic has emerged in at least 31 countries this year, putting around one billion people at risk of infection worldwide. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, stated in a speech to representatives of diplomatic missions in Geneva, "We should have defeated this disease a long time ago, but it is actually on the rise." The Director-General confirmed that reports of cholera in 2022 had doubled compared to 2021, and "this year will be worse." He said, "At least 31 countries have experienced cholera outbreaks in 2023. One billion people are at risk." Ghebreyesus added, "What is most concerning is the current outbreak in Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe. In southern Africa, significant progress has been made in controlling the disease, but the rainy season increases the risk of serious outbreaks. It is particularly alarming that the disease has re-emerged this year in countries that had eliminated cholera many years ago."