Cholera worldwide overview
Monthly update as of 26 May 2026
Since 28 April 2026 and as of 26 May 2026, 3 596 new cholera cases, including 176 new deaths, have been reported worldwide.
New cases have been reported fromÖ
- Angola
- Burundi
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of The Congo
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Rwanda
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Zambia
The five countries reporting most cases are Angola (2 120), Mozambique (413), Somalia (271), Burundi (224) and Democratic Republic of The Congo (172). New deaths have been reported from Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of The Congo, Mozambique and Zambia.
The five countries reporting most new deaths are Democratic Republic of The Congo (115), Angola (36), Congo (21), Zambia (3) and Mozambique (1). In the previous reporting period (30 March to 28 April 2026), 20 028 new cholera cases, including 272 new deaths, were reported worldwide.
Since 1 January 2026 and as of 26 May 2026, 68 749 cholera cases, including 944 deaths, have been reported worldwide. In comparison, since 01 January 2025 and as of 26 May 2025, 119 702 cholera cases, including 1 570 deaths, were reported worldwide.
Geographical distribution of cholera cases reported worldwide from March 2026 to May 2026
Since the last update, new cases and new deaths have been reported from:
Asia
Since 28 April 2026, no updates have been reported by Afghanistan, Myanmar/Burma, Pakistan, Yemen, and India.
Africa
Angola: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 2 120 new cases, including 36 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 3 146 cases, including 62 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 30 April 2025, 14 090 cases, including 505 deaths were reported.
Burundi: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 224 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 1 015 cases, including two deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 17 March 2025, 129 cases were reported.
Congo:Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 122 new cases, including 21 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 391 cases, including 33 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 26 May 2025, no cases were reported.
Democratic Republic of The Congo: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 172 new cases, including 115 new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 21 418 cases, including 726 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 10 March 2025, 11 918 cases, including 240 deaths were reported.
Malawi: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 157 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 1 733 cases, including five deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 7 April 2025, 91 cases, including three deaths were reported.
Mozambique: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 413 new cases, including one new death has been reported. Since 01 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 7 016 cases, including 59 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 30 April 2025, 2 851 cases, including 29 deaths were reported.
Rwanda: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 11 new cases have been reported. Since 01 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 29 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 4 April 2025, four cases were reported.
Somalia: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 271 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 1 206 cases have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 17 February 2025, 1 409 cases, including one death was reported.
South Sudan: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 2 new cases have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 457 cases, including six deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 17 March 2025, 25 179 cases, including 389 deaths were reported.
Zambia: Since 12 April 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 104 new cases, including three new deaths have been reported. Since 1 January 2026 and as of 10 May 2026, 987 cases, including 16 deaths have been reported. In comparison, in 2025 and as of 15 April 2025, 463 cases, including nine deaths were reported.
Since 28 April 2026, no updates have been reported by: Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe
Americas
Since 28 April 2026, no updates have been reported by Haiti
ECDC assessment:
Cholera cases have continued to be reported in Africa and Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
In this context, although the likelihood of cholera infection for travellers visiting these countries remains low, sporadic importation of cases to the EU/EEA is possible.
In the EU/EEA, cholera is rare and primarily associated with travel to endemic countries.Since 2025, only events of locally acquired cholera cases are reported at the EU/EEA level; however, imported and locally acquired cholera cases are reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on an annual basis. In 2024, 16 imported cases were reported by eight EU/EEA countries, while 12 were reported in 2023, 29 in 2022, two in 2021, and none in 2020. In 2019, 25 cases were reported in EU/EEA countries (including the United Kingdom). All cases had a travel history to cholera-affected areas.
Vaccination should be considered for travellers at higher risk of infection, such as emergency and relief workers who may be directly exposed. Vaccination is generally not recommended for other travellers. Travellers to cholera-endemic areas should seek advice from travel health clinics to assess their personal risk and apply precautionary sanitary and hygiene measures to prevent infection. Such measures can include drinking bottled water or water treated with chlorine, carefully washing fruit and vegetables with bottled or chlorinated water before consumption, regularly washing hands with soap, eating thoroughly cooked food, and avoiding the consumption of raw seafood products.
Actions:
ECDC continues to monitor cholera outbreaks globally through its epidemic intelligence activities in order to identify significant changes in epidemiology and provide timely updates to public health authorities. Reports are published on a monthly basis.
Read more
All updates on Cholera
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera of serogroups O1 or O139. Humans are the only relevant reservoir, even though Vibrios can survive for a long time in coastal waters contaminated by human excreta.