Cameroon: 154 people die of cholera in eight months

Cameroon, a central African country with a population of around 25 million, is currently experiencing a peak in the cholera pandemic. A level not seen in the country for more than ten years.

One hundred and fifty-four people died of cholera from October 2021 to June 2022 (in eight months) in Cameroon. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 8,241 cases have been reported since the resurgence of the disease.
In May, the epidemiological situation of the Ministry of Health reported 140 deaths with 7287 cases reported in the Littoral, South West and West regions. This means that the incidence rate is increasing day by day. The regions affected by the pandemic include the Centre, Littoral, South West, North and West.

“The South West region, which is facing a security crisis, has the highest rate of contamination with 5628 cases and 90 deaths. It is followed by the Littoral with 2,208 infections and 58 deaths,” OCHA said.

On Monday, the United Nations announced that the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund has released $1.7 million for an urgent response to the pandemic currently ravaging the country.

As you may recall, the previous wave of cholera in Cameroon killed 66 people between January and August 2020.

In early 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that there were 1.3 to 4 million cases of cholera and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths from the disease worldwide each year.

Access to clean water

Although Cameroon has often been affected by cholera, the country has not experienced a cholera outbreak of this magnitude for over a decade. Cholera is a bacterial infection of the small intestine that causes acute diarrhea and intense dehydration. While the bacteria that causes cholera is usually found in water or food contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. Thus, the current epidemiological situation in the country points to a common problem in African countries: the lack of clean water.

According to the UNICEF report published on 22 March 2022, “on the continent, however, 418 million people still lack basic drinking water, 779 million lack basic sanitation (including 208 million who still practise open defecation) and 839 million lack basic hygiene. It is therefore clear that the population’s access to clean water and toilets remains limited or non-existent, and general hygiene conditions are inadequate.

Faced with this situation, respecting hygiene measures as much as possible is a way to prevent the disease.