WHO: cholera endangering billion people worldwide
During a briefing in Geneva, World Health Organisation (WHO) Team Leader for Cholera and Epidemic Diarrheal Diseases Philippe Barboza noted that more than a billion people are at risk of contracting cholera, TASS reports
Philippe Barboza said that over the past week, three countries have reported new outbreaks of cholera at once. Thus, the total number of states that are fighting the disease has grown to twenty-two.
“We estimate that more than a billion people across 43 countries are directly at risk of getting cholera,” he said.
The WHO official also underlined that in 2022, 50 percent more countries faced outbreaks of an infectious disease than in 2021.
“Unfortunately, this trend continues. Poverty, conflict and natural disasters continue to fuel outbreaks, which are now exacerbated by climate change,” he shared.
Moreover, the specialist focused on the fact that mortality rates are the highest in the last ten years.
It is worth recalling that cholera is a dangerous infectious disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The disease occurs when contaminated food or water enters the body.
