27 June 2017 – The Ministry of Health of Somalia has reported 1979 AWD/ cholera cases and 13 deaths for week 24 (12 - 18 June 2017). Of these, 337 cases (17% of the total cases) were reported from Wadajir district in Banadir region. This is a 19% decrease in the number of new cases from week 23, and can be attributed to timely and effective intervention efforts over the past months.

A cumulative total of 53 015 cases including 795 deaths have been reported since the cholera outbreak started in January 2017. The case-fatality rate of 1.5% remains above the emergency threshold of 1%. Of the reported cases, 53% affected children under 5 years of age. Most of the cases were reported in in Wadajir in Banadir region, Harfo in Mudug, Dusamareb in Galgadud and Markka in Lower Shebelle region.

The health cluster, led by WHO, is working collaboratively with the Ministry of Health, partners and health authorities to respond to the outbreak. WHO trained 54 health workers in AWD/ cholera surveillance, case management, infection control and prevention.  Integrated Emergency Response Teams (IERTs) provided medical assistance to 1140 AWD/ cholera patients including 75 patients who received further care at cholera treatment facilities and hospitals in the South Central region. More than 62 tonnes of emergency supplies and interagency diarrhoeal disease kits have been prepositioned in high-risk areas in all regions.

Lack of rains for consecutive seasons and poor rainfall in Somalia has led to a severe drought that has killed livestock and crops and displaced hundreds of thousands of Somalis, leaving around 6.7 out of 12.3 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases like cholera.