The World Health Organization says cholera can kill within hours if left untreated. Researchers have estimated that each year there are 1.3 million to 4 million cases of of the disease, and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide. In recent years, vaccination programs, like one Yemen in 2019, have attempted to reduce the numbers of those infected. File Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE
Jan. 12 (UPI) — More than 750 people have died in Malawi’s worst cholera outbreak in 20 years, the nation’s health minister said Thursday, adding that in the past 24 hours, 458 new cases were reported.
Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said in a statement that since the onset of the outbreak in March 2022, there have been 23,217 confirmed cases in which 773 people have died. In the past 24 hours, 458 new cases were reported, he said.
In an effort to curb the outbreak, Chiponda ordered the closure of many businesses without safe water, toilets and hygienic refuse-disposal facilities.
Chiponda’s statement said the Health Ministry is “working jointly with City Councils and Water Boards, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation is working to provide safe water in schools, including reconnecting piped water supply to schools that had their water supply disconnected.”
Primary and secondary schools had been closed, but Chiponda said they will reopen Jan. 17. Schools are being directed to enforce safe water and sanitation practices.
He said more cholera treatment centers are being established close to from where cases are originating to limit spread of the disease. Additional healthcare workers are being recruited to support the treatment units, according to Chiponda.
“Let me remind Malawians that the cholera outbreak is still firmly with us, and we continue to record rising number of cases across the country, despite signs of reduced transmission and deaths in a few areas,” Chiponda said.
The World Health Organization said in October that there was a dire shortage of cholera vaccines amid an “unprecedented rise in cholera cases worldwide.”
According to the WHO, cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated. Researchers have estimated that each year there are 1.3 million to 4 million cases of cholera, and 21,000 to 143,000 deaths worldwide, linked to cholera.
