Health Alerts

This week the WHO has offered an update on the cholera outbreak affecting four health areas in the coastal city of Lomé, reporting a total of 67 suspected cases between Nov 11 and Dec 28, 2020, of which ‘19 (28%) were fishermen who move frequently between Togo and neighboring countries (especially Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria)’. The agency also noted that Lomé, Togo’s capital, is a known cholera hotspot and adjacent countries are cholera-endemic. Meanwhile in the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost 90 percent of recent cholera infections were recorded in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, Haut-Katanga and Lomami, as outbreaks which had been easing were inflamed again after heavy rains; and in Yemen, cholera cases in the SE province of Hadramout have persisted three months beyond the annual peak season which usually ends in September, prompting an extensive vaccination campaign.  Read more.