Cholera outbreak in Somalia kills at least 75 since January

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - The effects of Somalia’s recent historic droughts combined with the impact of floods induced by El Nino have fueled outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera, killing at least 75 people since January, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The current outbreak is mainly attributed to a growing number of people with limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities.

The WHO said the registered cases in the Horn of Africa nation are almost three times as high than the three-year average.

According to the Health Ministry, as many as 6,605 cases were reported as of April 1. The national case fatality rate is 1.1%, but some districts are showing above 4%, which is far beyond the WHO’s 1% emergency threshold.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), relief chief Martin Griffiths allocated $2 million to "support life-saving humanitarian assistance for the most vulnerable people."

The UN warned there is high risk that the outbreak will spread to regions in the country that have not been affected for years.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​