WHO says cholera vaccine stocks ‘critically low’
Stocks of the oral cholera vaccine are critically low globally.
"There are also concerns with response and response not being optimal because of the shortages we are seeing or counter-measures, one of them being oral cholera vaccinations," says Patrick Moonasar from the World Health Organisation.
Moonasar says there are 24 countries that are currently affected by an outbreak of the bacterial disease.
It includes South Africa, where in the past week, 15 people have died in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
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Moonasar, who was part of a panel on Tuesday discussing the global outbreak, says countries need to strengthen their readiness.
He says there are a number of drivers of the infection's transmission and spread.
"Climate-related a lot, recent weather patterns we have seen in South Africa.
"Also, some of the cyclones globally and floods. As you have seen in the eastern part of the country as well as neighbouring countries, we have seen a lot of floods as well and the risk here is the disruption of healthcare services and surveillance and conflict and cross-border population movements are some of the risks of the spread of the infection."
