Cholera
Waterborne diarrhoeal disease that kills through fluid loss.
WHO's annual Cholera report of 29 September 2026 counted 7,870 deaths in 2025, a toll unmatched in its records since 1999, from 451,499 cases in 47 countries, though vaccine output more than doubled.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Cholera
Killed 7,870 people reported to WHO in 2025
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Cholera killed 7,870 in 2025, WHO saysBackground
Cholera deaths reached a 26-year high in 2025. WHO counted 7,870 deaths, 30% more than in 2024, from 451,499 reported cases. Angola, Bangladesh, DR Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen carried about 90% of cases and deaths, and 12 countries passed the 1% case-fatality threshold that marks failing treatment. In WHO's African Region cases rose 34% but deaths 58%.
Oral Cholera vaccine output rose from about 30 million to about 80 million doses a year between 2022 and 2025, yet deaths still climbed. The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, which manages the emergency stockpile, approved 71 million doses for 2025, but only 20 million for preventive campaigns; the rest went to outbreaks already under way.
Cholera spreads through water and food contaminated with sewage, so it tracks war, displacement and flooding. It kills through dehydration, which oral rehydration salts can usually reverse within hours. A high case-fatality ratio therefore signals distance from care rather than a deadlier strain. Several affected countries under-report it or log it as acute watery diarrhoea, so WHO's totals are a floor.
What is cholera?
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How much cholera vaccine is made each year?
