Cholera outbreak kills 42 in Somalia in 10 months – UN

An outbreak of cholera acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in Somalia has killed forty-two people since December, a UN health agency said on Thursday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said in its latest report on the AWD/cholera outbreak that the Somali health ministry has also announced twenty-nine new cases of cholera between Sept. 24 and 30.

Among them, forty-five percent were five years old or below.

The cumulative total of cases is six thousand, four hundred and twenty-three, including forty-two associated deaths, since the beginning of the current outbreak in December 2017, said the UN health agency.

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