Cholera outbreak in Somalia claims at least 75 lives since January

At least 75 people have died since January in Somalia due to outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera caused by the combined effects of historic droughts and floods induced by El Nino, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the current outbreak is largely attributed to a growing number of people with limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities.

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

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