Cholera cases keep rising

Cholera cases are on the rise, with nine new cases confirmed and another 12 suspected in seven districts.

Ministry of Health director of preventive health services Storn Kabuluzi said the nine new cases have been confirmed as of September 27 2023.

He said: “As for the past seven days from 21 to 27 September 2023, cholera reports indicate that there are nine confirmed cases registered in Lilongwe [three], Thyolo [one], Nkhotakota [one], Karonga [one], Mulanje [one] and Nsanje [two]. There are also 12 suspected cases which have been recorded in Zomba [one], Mangochi [one], Nsanje [one], Nkhotakota [two], Blantyre [two], Nsanje [four] and Lilongwe [one].”

Kabuluzi said the government is working to contain the outbreak through awareness campaigns and cholera vaccination among others.

He said: “The ministry has this year done three cholera vaccination campaigns in the hot spot areas in some districts which are reporting sporadic cholera cases like Lilongwe, Dedza, Salima, Chikwawa and Nsanje. However, the main strategies for cholera control and prevention remain hygiene, sanitation and use of safe drinking water.”

Blantyre District Health Office (DHO) health promotions officer Chrissy Banda confirmed that the office registered suspected cases.

She said: “We have registered three new suspected cholera cases with zero new confirmed cases. The first suspected cholera was from Bangwe and the second from Limbe while the third was from South Lunzu. The first two suspected cases were tested negative for culture results and we are yet to have culture results for the third case.”

Lilongwe DHO spokesperson Richard Mvula said the district has registered five new cases in the past 10 days.

Cholera cases resurfaced last month barely weeks after it was declared no longer a public health threat.

In March, 2022 the first cholera case was recorded in Machinga. The outbreak spread to 29 health districts, registering 4766 cases by November 2022.

President Lazarus Chakwera last December declared the cholera outbreak a public health emergency after the disease had claimed 1 768 lives with 58 981cumulative confirmed cases.

On August 16 2023, the Ministry of Health declared cholera outbreak as no longer a public health emergency.