As of 7 November 2023, Zimbabwe has recorded 6,685 suspected cholera cases and 136 suspected deaths. For the last two weeks, the number of new cases recorded weekly surpasses 500 – the highest rate to date this year.

The outbreak has now spread to more than the 17 traditional cholera hotspot districts where health personnel are ill-equipped to cope with the outbreak (44 districts have so far reported cases in the country). The crude mortality rate remains above 2% and raises concerns regarding case management and quality of care.

The incident management system for cholera response was activated and a cholera outbreak incident manager appointed at the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre to coordinate the outbreak response, in line with the Zimbabwe Multi-sectoral Cholera Elimination Plan.

DG ECHO partners are responding to the new wave of cases. A scale-up of the response is urgently needed to address the gaps in WASH, health and nutrition, and risk communication and community engagement.