According to the United Nations health agency, there are about 30 countries around the world that have reported cholera outbreaks this year
A World Health Organization official said today that global stockpiles of cholera vaccines, which the organization helps manage, are “currently empty or extremely low” amid a worldwide outbreak of the disease.
According to the United Nations health agency, there are about 30 countries around the world that have reported cholera outbreaks this year, a number one-third higher than a typical year.
“We don’t have any more vaccines. More countries keep asking and it’s extremely difficult,” said Philip Barbosa, head of the Cholera and Epidemic Diarrheal Diseases team at the World Health Organization. “All the vaccines that have been produced have already been distributed,” he added.
The official was referring to the emergency stockpile held by the International Vaccine Coordination Group, which is managed by the WHO and other agencies. Typically, it has about 36 million doses available per year. The vaccine shortage has already led the WHO to temporarily suspend the usual two-dose vaccination practice in October.
Barbosa said part of that crisis was due to an Indian manufacturer’s decision to stop production, without elaborating.
Many of the areas with outbreaks are countries affected by poverty and conflict, such as Haiti and Yemen, but the disease has also been reported in countries such as Lebanon, which until recently was a middle-income country.
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