Cholera trends remain worrying

The cholera outbreak has taken a concerning turn, with Harare province now appearing to be the epicentre after a 35 percent rise in new cases over the week. Deaths also rose 5-fold and were all from Manicaland province - one of the three other provinces reporting new cases (also Mashonaland South and Mashonaland East). The regional WHO weekly bulletin noted that ‘the spread to new hotspot areas and deaths already having surpassed those reported in the last major outbreak’ in 2018-19. Elsewhere, it an ECDC update, the suspected cholera case in Sardinia reported last week has now been revised to an infection with Vibrio cholerae non-O1 and non-O139, ‘and therefore not classified as a cholera’. The source of infection was suggested as consumption of raw mussels. Read more