Cholera team investigating cases in the south

A joint UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO) and COSVI (Italian NGO) team is investigating cases of suspected cholera recently reported in southern Somalia, from Qoryoley District in Lower Shabelle Region, humanitarian sources have told IRIN. In March, a cholera outbreak was reported in the coastal town of Marka, along with several other outbreaks in southern Somalia since the start of the year. UNICEF Somalia said the cumulative figure up until mid-April for cases in these outbreaks was 881, with 71 deaths confirmed - a case fatality rate of 8.1 percent. As of 2 May, no positive confirmation of cholera in two cases from two separate villages was made by the team, UNICEF said. Medical supplies and chlorine have been pre-positioned in Qoryoley, and the team is investigating another case in Gobale village, Lower Shabelle. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that recent reports of cholera in Wanle Weyne, Lower Shabelle, had been “exaggerated”, and confused with other diarrhoeal diseases. With the onset of the rainy season, a rise of diarrhoeal diseases was expected, said the source, but not cholera. Cholera is endemic in Somalia and, although appearing with different outbreaks every year, is typically associated with the dry season from December through to May, according to a UNICEF fact sheet. Regarding cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases in Somalia, it says Somalia’s infant mortality and under five mortality rates “remain among the highest in the world”. Diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infections, tuberculosis and malaria are still the leading causes of death for infants and young children in Somalia, accounting for more than half of all child deaths.