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DRC Faces Deadliest Cholera Outbreak in 25 Years, UNICEF Says

A funding gap for Congo's $192 million elimination plan hampers the response.

An artisanal gold miner receives a medical-drip inside a ward at the cholera treatment centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF - Doctors without Borders) following a cholera outbreak that has swept through, overwhelming a fragile health system and underscoring the risks faced by thousands of miners and traders living without clean water or sanitation, in Lomera within Luhihi mining zone, in South Kivu province near Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Crispin Kyalangalilwa/File Photo

Overview

  • Authorities have recorded 64,427 cases and 1,888 deaths since January, with infections reported in 17 of the country's 26 provinces.
  • Children are heavily affected, with 14,818 cases and 340 deaths documented this year.
  • UNICEF reported that 16 of 62 children in a Kinshasa orphanage died within days after cholera swept through the facility.
  • Conflict, scarce access to safe water and minimal sanitation coverage — 43% and 15% respectively — are intensifying spread and fatalities.
  • UNICEF is seeking about $6 million for 2026 to sustain rapid response as African health authorities note roughly a 30% rise in cases in parts of the continent, notably Angola and Burundi.