Africa Faces Worst Cholera Crisis in 25 Years
Africa is experiencing its most severe cholera outbreak in a quarter-century, with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reporting about 300,000 confirmed and suspected cases and more than 7,000 deaths in 2025 so far. Those totals represent an increase of over 30% compared with last year’s recorded figure of 254,075 cases.
“Cholera is still a major issue,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said at a briefing. “It’s like every year we have more and more cases.”
Countries of Concern
Kaseya singled out Angola and Burundi as showing renewed, active transmission. Angola has reported at least 33,563 cases and 866 deaths in 2025, while Burundi has recorded at least 2,380 cases and 10 deaths. Sudan has been particularly hard hit: the Africa CDC reports 71,728 cases and 2,012 deaths this year.
In Sudan’s Darfur region, refugee camps and displaced populations have been severely affected. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described the situation as the country’s worst outbreak in years, reporting that teams treated more than 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in one week.
How Cholera Spreads and Its Risks
Cholera is a bacterial infection most commonly transmitted when people consume water or food contaminated with fecal matter. It can also spread if contaminated water contacts an open wound or, in some settings, from eating raw or undercooked shellfish. Cholera does not spread through casual person-to-person contact.
The illness causes profuse diarrhoea and rapid dehydration; without prompt rehydration and treatment, it can kill within hours, even in previously healthy people.
Drivers of the Outbreak and Response Needs
The Africa CDC attributes the surge to limited access to safe drinking water, damaged sanitation infrastructure, conflict-driven displacement, and overcrowded living conditions such as refugee and IDP camps. “As we know, without water, we cannot really control the outbreak,” Kaseya said.
Health leaders urge actions to restore and protect water and sanitation services, increase access to oral rehydration and medical care, deploy vaccines where appropriate, and supply essential WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) commodities to affected communities.
Context: Cholera is not new to the region — Sudan experienced a large outbreak in 2017 that killed at least 700 people and infected roughly 22,000 in under two months. Officials say recent floods mixing sewage with drinking supplies likely triggered part of the current surge in some areas.
What readers should know: The situation remains urgent. Containment requires coordinated public health responses, humanitarian assistance to restore water and sanitation, and resources for rapid treatment and prevention in the most affected areas.
