THE World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Nigeria is among three countries with worsening cases of cholera outbreak, warning that one billion people globally are currently at risk.
The United Nations agency stated this in its ‘Multi-Country Outbreak of Cholera‘ report on Thursday, August 28.
“In July 2025, the African Region reported 20,053 new cholera cases across 14 countries, marking a seven per cent increase compared with June.
“In this period, the highest number of cases were reported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,308), South Sudan (6,740) and Nigeria (2,638),” WHO said.
It reported there were 577 cholera-related deaths, a 62 per cent increase compared with the previous month.
Nigeria was also among the three countries that topped the highest number of deaths.
The country reported 48 deaths, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo topped the list with 400, followed by South Sudan with 66.
In the African region, the WHO said from January 1 to July 27, 2025, 164,804 cholera cases were reported across 21 countries.
South Sudan reported the highest number of cases with 70,516, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, 42,760, and Angola, 27,666.
“In the same period, a total of 3,510 deaths were reported from 18 countries with the highest numbers recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1,212), South Sudan (1,173) and Angola (773),” the UN agency said.
It warned that globally, cholera outbreaks were worsening across 31 countries amid a surging fatality rate.
“Given the scale, severity, and interconnected nature of these outbreaks, the risk of further spread within and between countries is considered very high,” WHO explained in a post on Friday, August 29.
It attributed the deteriorating outlook to be “driven by conflict and poverty”, with rural and flood-affected areas especially vulnerable to the disease.
The ICIR reported in March how over 25 million people in Nigeria’s commercial cities face increasing overwhelming challenges of poor sanitation, heightening cholera outbreaks and compromising public health safety of residents.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from faeces, according to the WHO.
The agency reported further that between January 1 and August 17, 409,222 cholera cases and 4,738 deaths were recorded globally.
Cholera is gaining ground in several countries that had not reported substantial case numbers in years, like the Republic of Congo and Chad.
Also, there has been a global increase in cholera cases and their geographical spread since 2021.