About 1.6 Million Children Vaccinated Against Cholera

Gavi announced today that the Republic of Kenya Kenya surpassed its target of vaccinating 1.59 million people during a 10-day oral cholera vaccine (OCV) campaign conducted in early August 2023.

Speaking in Nairobi on August 28, 2023, the Acting head of the Health Ministry's Disease Surveillance and Response Unit, Dr. Emmanuel, said in a media statement the OCV campaign was in response to a Kenyan cholera outbreak, which was first reported in October 2022 and has so far resulted in 11,872 cases and 196 deaths across Kenya.

"The case fatality rate of the cholera outbreak stands at 1.7%, underscoring the severity of the situation," he said.

However, recent cholera epidemics in different parts of the world have far exceeded that standard, with the average case fatality rates across outbreaks in 2021 standing at 1.9% globally and 2.9% in Africa.

The World Health Organization calls for access to adequate life-saving treatment to maintain case fatality rates below 1%, achievable when appropriate interventions are deployed.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a recent, unprecedented global increase in cholera outbreaks, such as in Haiti. However, nearly all cholera cases reported in the U.S. are acquired during international travel.