Cholera Outbreak Kills 795 In Somalia - UN

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The UN said on Wednesday that an outbreak of cholera and acute diarrhea in Somalia has killed 795 people since January.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest bulletin that there was a 19-per cent decrease in the number of new cases in the first week of June.

This, OCHA said, could be attributed to timely and effective intervention efforts over the past months.

The UN which also cited figures from the ministry of health of Somalia reported that in 1979 acute diarrhea and cholera cases and 13 deaths occurred from June 12 to June 18.

OCHA said, of these, 337 cases were reported from Wadajir district in Banadir region.

“A cumulative total of 53,015 cases including 795 deaths have been reported since the cholera outbreak started in January 2017.

“The case-fatality rate of 1.5 percent remains above the emergency threshold of one per cent,’’ the UN said.

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Of the reported cases, the UN agency, 53 per cent affected children under five with most of the cases being reported in Wadajir in Banadir region, Harfo in Mudug, Dusamareb in Galgadud and Markka in Lower Shebelle region.

The report said the health cluster, led by World Health Organisation, is working collaboratively with the ministry of health, partners and health authorities to respond to the outbreak.

The UN said that the lack of rains for consecutive seasons and poor rainfall in Somalia have led to a severe drought that has killed livestock and crops.

The rain displaced hundreds of thousands of Somalis, leaving around 6.7 out of 12.3 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

According to the report, nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases like cholera.

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease, which is usually spread by contaminated water and food, and could cause severe diarrhea that, in extreme cases, could lead to fatal dehydration and kidney failure within hours.

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