WHO Reports Highest Annual Cholera Deaths Since 1999 Alongside Meningitis and Plague Trends

Global cholera deaths increased by 30% in 2025, reaching the highest annual total reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1999, according to data published in the agency's latest Weekly Epidemiological Record. Across 47 reporting countries, 451,499 cases and 7,870 deaths were recorded, with the organization noting that the actual global burden is likely substantially higher due to underreporting.

Approximately 90% of all reported cholera cases and deaths worldwide were concentrated in seven nations: Angola, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen. The WHO African Region experienced the heaviest impact, recording a 34% increase in cases and a 58% rise in deaths compared to 2024.

According to the WHO, more than one in five reported cholera deaths occurred outside health facilities, indicating that many individuals did not access timely care. While the global case fatality rate remained below the 1% adequate-care threshold for patients treated within health facilities, that rate was exceeded in 12 countries. The agency also reported that global oral cholera vaccine production rose from approximately 30 million doses in 2022 to roughly 80 million doses in 2025, allowing the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision to approve 71 million doses for affected countries.

The publication also detailed surveillance updates for bacterial meningitis and plague. Across the African meningitis belt, 24 of 26 countries reported 21,526 suspected cases and 971 deaths in 2025, representing a 4.5% fatality rate and a 5.9% decline in cases among countries that reported in both 2024 and 2025. The WHO noted that a newer vaccine targeting five meningococcal serogroups, Men5CV/MMCV, is being introduced across the region, with Niger executing the first nationwide campaign in 2025.

For human plague, 10 countries reported 3,847 suspected cases and 423 deaths between 2019 and 2025, resulting in an 11% case fatality rate. The majority of these cases were reported from Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease remains endemic in certain areas.

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