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Zimbabwe Cholera Outbreak Fact Sheet & Map #8, FY 2009
USAID / US. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)
February 10, 2009

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Key developments

Since the cholera outbreak began in August 2008, the disease has spread to all of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces and 56 of Zimbabwe's 62 districts. As of February 9, cholera had caused more than 3,400 deaths, with more than 70,600 cases reported and a case fatality rate (CFR) of 4.9 percent, according to the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO). As of January 29, WHO projected a worst-case scenario ranging from 81,000 to 115,000 cases.

From January 25 to 31, WHO reported a fourth consecutive weekly increase in new cholera cases. However, WHO also reported a decrease in the weekly CFR and a stabilized rate of weekly cholera deaths. The weekly institutional CFR, measuring cholera deaths in health facilities, cholera treatment centers (CTCs), and cholera treatment units (CTUs), increased to 1.4 percent, only slightly higher than the previous week's figure of 1.3 percent. WHO noted that the stabilized institutional CFR likely resulted from improved case management and more rapid treatment of cholera patients than in the earlier stages of the outbreak.

On February 6, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the potential for a breakdown of the water supply in the city of Bulawayo, resulting from recent pipeline ruptures and a strike by municipal staff. To date, Bulawayo has experienced lower cholera rates than other urban areas, in part due to the continued operation of water treatment plants and ongoing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs funded by USAID/OFDA and humanitarian partners since 2007.

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