cholera
Newsletter
Credit: francovolpato/Big Stock Photo
Extreme weather is worsening Africa's cholera crisis
Relentless extreme weather in Africa has led to severe cholera outbreaks, killing thousands and affecting hundreds of thousands more.
Sebabatso Mosamo, Farai Mutsaka, and Gerald Imray report for The Associated Press.
In short:
- Since late 2021, more than 6,000 people have died and nearly 350,000 have been infected with cholera in southern and East Africa.
- Extreme weather, including cyclones, floods, and droughts, has increased the incidence of cholera by contaminating water sources.
- A global shortage of cholera vaccines has exacerbated the crisis, particularly in poorer countries that are most affected.
Key quote:
"The outbreaks are getting much larger because the extreme climate events are getting much more common."
— Tulio de Oliveira, South Africa-based disease scientist
Why this matters:
Floods not only spread cholera but also destroy crops, leading to food insecurity and malnutrition, which weakens immune systems and makes populations more vulnerable to diseases. Conversely, droughts deplete water sources, pushing people to use contaminated water for drinking and cooking.
Keep reading...Show less
Image by -Rita-👩🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay
Unsanitary and deadly: The Great Stink of 1858 may foreshadow our future climate breakdown
One of the smelliest summers in history has stark implications for our present climate breakdown, experts say.
Newsletter
Photo by Rohan Reddy on Unsplash
Cholera cases spike amid extreme weather, conflict
Cyclone Freddy, one of the longest-lasting tropical cyclones ever recorded, carved a treacherous path in Mozambique last month that underscored the vulnerability of the world’s poorest to climate disruption, displacement, and disease — and not just once but twice.
Newsletter
DFID - UK Department for I/Flickr/Commercial use & mods allowed
Mozambique works to contain cholera outbreak after cyclone
Weeks after massive Cyclone Freddy hit Mozambique for a second time, the still-flooded country is facing a spiraling cholera outbreak that threatens to add to the devastation.
Cholera outbreaks surge worldwide, following floods, droughts and wars
A record number of outbreaks has drained the cholera vaccine supply, leading the W.H.O. to ration emergency vaccinations.
Study connects climate hazards to 58% of infectious diseases
Climate hazards such as flooding, heat waves and drought have worsened more than half of the hundreds of known infectious diseases in people, including malaria, hantavirus, cholera and anthrax, a study says.
Millions more people got access to clean drinking water. Can they drink it?
The U.N. pledged to halve the proportion of the world without access to clean drinking water by 2015.
ORIGINAL REPORTING
MOST POPULAR
CLIMATE
