27 July 2017 – The Ministry of Health of Somalia has reported 1068 AWD/cholera cases and 3 deaths for week 28 (10 – 16 July 2017) with a case-fatality rate of 0.3%. Of these, the highest number of cases (286/27%) was reported in Middle Shebelle region, followed by Mudug, Sool and Banadir.
The cumulative number of cases stands at 58 524, including 812 deaths, in 15 regions across the country. The overall case-fatality rate of 1.4% remains above the emergency threshold of 1%. However, the cholera outbreak which started in January 2017 is slowing down, thanks to timely interventions by WHO, national health authorities and health partners.
WHO and health partners have been working in partnership with the Ministry of Health and local authorities to bring much needed relief to the populations.
Cholera response and prevention efforts are being continued throughout the country. With improvements to the surveillance systems in the country, a total of 265 sentinel health facilities are now able to report on health alerts, in addition to existing reporting mechanisms.
Chlorination of water sources was conducted in selected villages and IDP camps in Lower Jubba among returnees. Community sensitisation was conducted in IDP camps in Kismayo. Nearly 60 tonnes of essential medical supplies have been distributed to all regions since the start of the outbreak.
Somalia has been experiencing a severe drought due to lack of rains for consecutive seasons and poor rainfall. With livestock and crops destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Somalis displaced, around 6.7 out of 12.3 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases like cholera.