Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it assessed the risk of cholera at the global level as very high due to the increase in the number of outbreaks and their geographical expansion.
“The overall capacity to respond to the multiple and simultaneous outbreaks continues to be strained due to the global lack of resources, including shortages of the oral cholera vaccine, as well as overstretched public health and medical personnel, who are dealing with multiple disease outbreaks and other health emergencies at the same time. Based on the current situation, WHO assesses the risk at the global level as very high,” the WHO said in a statement.
The statement added that as of March 20, a cholera outbreak had been reported in 24 countries.
According to the organization, the vast majority of countries affected by cholera outbreaks are in Africa and the Middle East.
