WHO Cholera Fact Sheet – June 2010

Fact sheet N°107 – Revised June 2010

Cholera

Key facts

• Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated.
• There are an estimated 3–5 million cholera cases and 100 000–120 000 deaths due to cholera every year.
• Up to 80% of cases can be successfully treated with oral rehydration salts.
• Effective control measures rely on prevention, preparedness and response.
• Provision of safe water and sanitation is critical in reducing the impact of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
• Oral cholera vaccines are considered an additional means to control cholera, but should not replace conventional control measures.

Link to full-text: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/

World and Africa Cholera Statistics, 2000-2008

At the Google Fusion Table link below are statistics on cholera cases, cholera deaths and CFRs worldwide, for Africa and for specific African countries:

• http://tables.googlelabs.com/DataSource?dsrcid=183853

You can click on the VISUALIZE tab to generate graphs and charts and leave can also leave comments, questions, etc.

Please email any questions or suggestions to dcampbell@usaid.gov.

Cholera articles from the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene

 Below are links to the full-text of 16 cholera studies published from 1998-2008 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.

 

 Spatial Analysis of Risk Factor of Cholera Outbreak for 2003-2004 in a Peri-urban Area of Lusaka, Zambia. 
Satoshi Sasaki, Hiroshi Suzuki, Kumiko Igarashi, Bushimbwa Tambatamba, AND Philip Mulenga
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008; 79: 414-421.  PDF: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/79/3/414>

Environmental Vibrio Cholerae O139 May Be the Progenitor of Outbreak of Cholera in Coastal Area of Orissa, Eastern India, 2000: Molecular Evidence
Hemant Kumar Khuntia, Bibhuti Bhusan Pal, Prem Kumar Meher, AND Guru Prasad Chhotray
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008; 78: 819-822. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/78/5/819>

Local Environmental Predictors of Cholera in Bangladesh and Vietnam
Michael Emch, Caryl Feldacker, Mohammad Yunus,  et. al.
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008; 78: 823-832. [PDF] http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/78/5/823>

Rapid Spread of Vibrio cholerae O1 Throughout Kenya, 2005.
Isaac Mugoya, Samuel Kariuki, Tura Galgalo, et al.
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2008; 78: 527-533. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/78/3/527>

 

Cholera: A New Homeland in Africa?
Nicholas H. Gaffga, Robert V. Tauxe, AND Eric D. Mintz
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2007; 77: 705-713. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/77/4/705>

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERIC DISEASES IN VIETNAM
LOUISE A. KELLY-HOPE, WLADIMIR J. ALONSO, et al. 
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2007; 76: 706-712. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/76/4/706>

REVIEW OF REPORTED CHOLERA OUTBREAKS WORLDWIDE, 1995
DAVID C. GRIFFITH, LOUISE A. KELLY-HOPE, AND MARK A. MILLER
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2006; 75: 973-977. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/75/5/973>

A CHOLERA EPIDEMIC AMONG THE NICOBARESE TRIBE OF NANCOWRY, ANDAMAN, AND NICOBAR, INDIA
ATTAYOOR P. SUGUNAN, ASIT R. GHOSH, SUBARNA ROY, MOHAN D. GUPTE, AND SUBHASH C. SEHGAL
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2004; 71: 822-827. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/71/6/822>

Cholera in Indonesia in 1993-1999.
CH Simanjuntak, W Larasati, S Arjoso, M Putri, et al.
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2001; 65: 788-797. [PDF]:  http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/65/6/788>

Mortality, morbidity, and microbiology of endemic cholera among hospitalized patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh
ET Ryan, U Dhar, WA Khan, MA Salam,  et. al. 
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2000; 63: 12-20. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/63/1/12>

New insights on the emergence of cholera in Latin America during 1991: the Peruvian experience
N. Seas, J Miranda, AI Gil, R Leon-Barua, J Patz, A Huq, RR Colwell, AND RB Sack
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2000; 62: 513-517. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/62/4/513>

Safety, immunogenicity, and lot stability of the whole cell/recombinant B subunit (WC/rCTB) cholera vaccine in Peruvian adults and children
DN Taylor, V Cardenas, J Perez, R Puga, AND AM Svennerholm
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 61: 869-873. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/61/6/869>

First do no harm: making oral rehydration solution safer in a cholera epidemic
NA Daniels, SL Simons, A Rodrigues, et. al. 
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 60: 1051-1055. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/60/6/1051>

The effect of iron on the toxigenicity of Vibrio cholerae
M Patel AND M Isaacson
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 60: 392-396. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/60/3/392>

Transmission of epidemic Vibrio cholerae O1 in rural western Kenya associated with drinking water from Lake Victoria: an environmental reservoir for cholera?
RL Shapiro, MR Otieno, PM Adcock, PA Phillips-Howard, et al. 
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 60: 271-276. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/60/2/271>

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Vibrio cholerae isolates from a recent cholera outbreak in Senegal: comparison with isolates from Guinea-Bissau
A Aidara, S Koblavi, CS Boye, G Raphenon, et al. 
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1998; 58: 163-167. [PDF]: http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/58/2/163>

World Bank – Health impact of extreme weather events in Sub-Saharan Africa

The health impact of extreme weather events in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2009.

 

Full-text: http://go.worldbank.org/QB7POLFP30  

Extreme weather events are known to have serious consequences for human health and are predicted to increase in frequency as a result of climate change. Africa is one of the regions that risks being most seriously affected. This paper quantifies the impact of extreme rainfall and temperature events on the incidence of diarrhea, malnutrition and mortality in young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The panel data set is constructed from Demographic and Health Surveys for 108 regions from 19 Sub-Saharan African countries between 1992 and 2001 and climate data from the Africa Rainfall and Temperature Evaluation System from 1980 to 2001.

 

The results show that both excess rainfall and extreme temperatures significantly raise the incidence of diarrhea and weight-for-height malnutrition among children under the age of three, but have little impact on the long-term health indicators, including height-for-age malnutrition and the under-five mortality rate. The authors use the results to simulate the additional health cost as a proportion of gross domestic product caused by increased climate variability. The projected health cost of increased diarrhea attributable to climate change in 2020 is in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 percent of gross domestic product in Africa.