Namibia on high alert as cholera crisis escalates in southern Africa

Niël Terbalnché Namibia is ramping up its disease surveillance and implementing precautionary measures in response to the escalating cholera outbreak in neighbouring countries. The situation is particularly severe in Zambia, where over 9,500 people have been affected since the first case was reported in October 2023. The outbreak has spread to nine of Zambia’s ten provinces, with a high case fatality rate of 3.9 percent. Lusaka, the country’s capital, bears the brunt of the outbreak, accounting for over 90 percent of the reported cases. Alarmingly, about 52 percent of all cases in Zambia involve children under the age of 15.…