6 September 2018 – The Ministry of Health of Somalia has announced 76 new cases of cholera including one death for week 34 (20 to 26 August) of 2018. Over the past two weeks, there has been an increase in the number of cholera cases reported. The cumulative total of cases is 6245, including 42 associated deaths (case-fatality rate 0.7%) since the beginning of the current outbreak in December 2017. Of 261 stool samples collected since the beginning of this year, 79 tested positive for Vibrio cholerae, serotype O1 Ogawa.
Cholera cases have been localized in Lower Jubba and Banadir region for the past five weeks. This week, active transmission was reported in 8 districts in Banadir and Kismayo in Lower Jubba region. Banadir accounts for 86% of newly reported cases (66) and also hosts the highest concentration of IDPs, who are living with limited safe water and sanitation. The number of newly reported cases increased from 31 to 66 since the previous week. Among them, 25% are children below 5 years old. In Lower Juba, the current outbreak started in Kismayo district in week 5 of 2018 in communities of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Farjano. Ten cases were reported, a slight increase from the previous week's 8 cases. Farjano's cholera treatment center (CTC) has received 1489 cases since the beginning of the outbreak, and has the highest case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.0.
WHO provides leadership and support for activities with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to respond to this outbreak. Coordination meetings were held in the flood affected districts with MoHs at Federal and State levels including Health Cluster partners for effectively collaboration on the outbreak response.
WHO has continued to support clinical care delivery, including building capacity for health care workers. On-the-job trainings on case management were conducted at CTCs in Kismayo, Farjano, Banadir and Marka. Disease surveillance data was collected through the Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN) with WHO support, which contributes to early detection of new cases and prompt response to outbreaks.
WHO also worked with WASH cluster partners, on chlorination of water sources in cholera affected areas in Hnati-wadaaq, Bulo-sheikh, Allenley and Fanole to ensure safe water in the communities. 1500 hygiene kits were distributed in villages in Kismayo, and hygiene promotion, cholera prevention and control mechanisms are ongoing in Farjano, Allanley, Gulwada and Shaqalaha.
