18 July 2017 – The Ministry of Health of Somalia has reported 1121 cholera cases and 3 deaths for week 26 (26 June – 2 July 2017). Of these, 272 cases (24% of the total cases) were reported in Banadir region. The number of new cases has declined by 18% from the past week, and the number of deaths dropped to 14% compared to week 24.
A cumulative total of 56 628 cases including 806 deaths have been reported in 41 districts across 15 regions since the cholera outbreak started in January 2017. The case-fatality rate of 1.4% remains above the emergency threshold of 1%. Of the reported cases, 72% affected children under 5 years of age.
The number of cholera cases has decreased slowly over the last few weeks; however, new cases are still being reported in Galgadud, Gedo, Togdheer, Bakool, Middle Jubba regions and other inaccessible areas.
WHO and the Health cluster in partnership with the Ministry of Health and local authorities have implemented timely and effective intervention efforts to reduce the number of new cases. As a result, 10 out of 56 cholera treatment centres and 34 out of 54 cholera treatment units that had been established at the beginning of the outbreak have been closed due to a reduction in the number of cases.
Cholera response and prevention efforts are being continued throughout the country. 2 mobile teams were deployed in Harfo districts to support outbreak investigation and response activities. Cholera prevention and awareness sessions were conducted house-to-house in the Afgoye corridor, Buhodle, Dandan and Horufadhi which is the epicentre of the current cholera outbreak. Health workers were trained on water treatment in Puntland, and community sensitization sessions were held in Kismayo, after cases were reported among refugees returning from Dadaab camp in Kenya. Nearly 60 tonnes of essential medical supplies have been distributed to all regions since the start of the outbreak.
Somalia has been experiencing a severe drought due to lack of rains for consecutive seasons and poor rainfall. With livestock and crops destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Somalis displaced, around 6.7 out of 12.3 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases like cholera.