MOGADISHU, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A cholera outbreak in four regions of Somalia has left at least nine people dead with 1,613 cases counted since December 2017, the UN health agency said on Friday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak started in Beletweyne, Hiraan Region then it spread to Banadir Region in early January and later to Lower Juba and Middle Shabelle in early February.
"WHO recommends improving access to safe water and sanitation to prevent cholera transmission. Reinforcing surveillance, particularly at the community level, is advised," said the UN health agency said in its latest report.
Cholera is a potentially fatal water-borne disease transmitted through contaminated water and/or food. It causes watery diarrhea and vomiting that can rapidly lead to death through severe dehydration.
Generally the cholera bacteria spreads in places with poor hygiene, where people do not use latrines to dispose off excreta, or do not wash their hands with soap or ash after defecation.
WHO advised that access to appropriate case management should be improved in the affected areas to decrease mortality, noting that the use of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) to limit the spread should also be considered.
WHO said that despite the control and prevention measures implemented during the last large cholera outbreak in 2017, the risk of the current outbreak is considered high at the national level because only 16 percent of the at-risk population was vaccinated during last year's OCV campaign, which is too low to provide population-level immunity.
The Horn of Africa nation has no public health system after nearly three decades of continuous conflict.
WHO said cholera is endemic in Somalia and continuous transmission was reported in the last few years. The last outbreak, which occurred in 2017, was one of the largest cholera epidemics the country has experienced with 78,000 cases, including 1,159 deaths were reported from 16 regions.
The outbreak reached its peak in April 2017 and gradually declined from June until August 2017, and only few sporadic suspected cases were recorded between October and November 2017.
WHO, however, said it does not recommend any restrictions on travel or trade to Somalia based on the information available.
