Climate change is driving cholera cases in various African countries, particularly in  Mozambique, which was hit by two tropical cyclones earlier this year that caused widespread flooding, according to Dr Yap Boum of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, two tropical cyclones in Madagascar resulted in the deaths of 600 people, the displacement of 180,000 others and the destruction of over 120,000 houses.

Madagascar is one of the countries worst-affected by cyclones in Africa, and the intensity of these is increasing with climate change.

Fourteen African countries have reported cholera outbreaks so far this year, with a total of 23,776 cases – and over 84% of cases are in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Globally, 59% of cholera cases are in Africa, but 99% of deaths are on the continent, where the case fatality rate is over 2%. The Africa CDC aims to halve this.

Southern Africa has been particularly badly affected, with a seven-fold increase in cholera cases in the first six weeks of 2026 in comparison to the same time last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region. This has been driven largely by cases in Mozambique and Angola.

Dr Marie Roseline Belizaire, WHO Africa’s emergencies director, told a recent media briefing that “the sharp rise in cholera cases in Southern Africa is a clear reminder of how climate-related shocks are intensifying public health risks”.

The cyclone-related floods in Mozambique killed 270 people and displaced over 370,000 others. 

“This flooding has the impact first on waterborne diseases, including cholera… and also vector-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue, because the flood water provides breeding sites for mosquitoes,” Boum told a media briefing on Thursday.

Angola has had two waves of cholera, said Boum. However, 54% of the population lacks access to safe drinking water, and only about 55% have adequate sanitation, he noted. 

“Although we can manage to stop the [cholera] wave, it will come back until people have proper access to water and sanitation.”

There have been new cholera outbreaks in Rwanda and in Zimbabwe, with Zimbabwe recording a 3.2% case fatality rate, the highest rate on the continent.

Meanwhile, southern Ethiopia experienced heavy rain last week that resulted in a mudslide and flooding that killed 125 people and displaced at least 10,000 others.