A multi-country outbreak of cholera has been causing concern across the world, with a total of 787,813 reported cases and 5,586 deaths in 31 countries since the beginning of 2023. The Eastern Mediterranean region has recorded the highest numbers, followed by the African, South-East Asia, Americas, and Western Pacific regions. Notably, no outbreaks have been reported in the European Region during this period.

One of the major challenges in the global cholera response is the critical shortage of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV). The demand for OCV has surged, with 79 million doses requested by 14 countries from January 2023 to February 2024, double the 40 million doses available during that period. The global stockpile of vaccines is awaiting replenishment, and all production up to 4 March has been allocated to approved requests.

In response to the severity of the situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the global resurgence of cholera as a grade 3 emergency in January 2023, the highest internal level for emergencies. Due to the number of outbreaks, their geographic expansion, and the shortage of vaccines and resources, WHO continues to assess the risk at the global level as very high, maintaining the event’s classification as a grade 3 emergency.

For the latest data on the cholera outbreak, the WHO Global Cholera and AWD Dashboard is available for reference. The WHO is actively involved in emergency response across its regions, including Africa, the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific, with a focus on policies related to cyber security, ethics, permissions and licensing, preventing sexual exploitation, and terms of use.