A severe cholera outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia, has resulted in over 400 fatalities and affected an additional 10,000 individuals since it started in October 2023.
According to the Zambian government, the disease has spread across the country, with the capital city, Lusaka, experiencing the most significant impact. The situation has necessitated the transformation of a large soccer stadium into a treatment center to handle the surge in patients.
Cholera, characterized by acute diarrhea, is typically associated with poverty and inadequate access to clean water. The disease propagates through contaminated food and water, which is particularly problematic in regions with insufficient sanitation facilities.
Despite the potential for swift and effective treatment of cholera, the death rate from the current outbreak in Zambia is alarmingly high at approximately 4%. The typical fatality rate is less than 1% if treated promptly.
In light of this public health crisis, the Zambian government has started a mass vaccination campaign and is distributing around 634,000 gallons of clean water every day to the affected communities.
The National Disaster Management Agency has been activated to address the crisis. However, over half of the deaths occurred before the patients could receive medical care, highlighting the difficulties in healthcare accessibility and disease control.
Health Minister Sylvia Masebo has noted that this outbreak, the worst in Zambia in the last 20 years, poses a serious threat to national health security due to its nationwide scale.
The cholera crisis in Zambia is indicative of a larger trend in Southern Africa. Countries like Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe have also witnessed recent outbreaks. Since the start of 2023, Southern Africa has seen over 200,000 confirmed cholera cases and roughly 3,000 deaths.
Factors contributing to these outbreaks include unusually heavy rainfall, storms, and the impacts of climate change, such as increasingly frequent and severe storms.
To combat the outbreak, the Zambian government has delayed the start of the school year from January 8, 2024, to January 29, 2024. Schools are required to undergo cleaning and inspection, similar to the precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
