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The Central African Republic has declared a cholera outbreak after the waterborne disease killed 24 people and infected 197 others near the capital of Bangui.
Health Minister Pierre Somse confirmed on Friday that laboratory tests verified the outbreak within the Bimbo and Mbaiki health districts.
Authorities have already implemented containment measures in the worst-hit areas and are rapidly deploying additional resources to neighbouring towns.
Officials are currently investigating the source of this infection, which marks the country’s fifth recorded cholera outbreak.
During the previous outbreak in 2016, the disease infected over 500 people and claimed 23 lives.
Cholera spreads rapidly through contaminated food or drinking water, causing severe diarrhoea and acute dehydration.
While wealthier nations have largely eliminated the disease, it still poses a significant threat in poorer regions that lack clean water infrastructure.
Minister Somse emphasised that the government remains fully mobilised to contain the crisis and urged the public to strictly follow preventive health protocols.
This health emergency hits the nation at a critical time, as the Central African Republic already maintains a high alert over a separate, deadly Ebola outbreak in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
