GENEVA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that the number of cholera cases decreased globally by 60 percent in 2018, thanks to prevention and control in world's major cholera hotspots.

The WHO statistics showed that there were 499,447 cases of cholera and 2,990 deaths in 2018, based on reports from 34 countries and regions. While outbreaks were still ongoing in various countries, the case load represented a significant downward trend in cholera transmission that has continued into 2019.

The global decrease in case numbers appeared to be linked to large-scale vaccination campaigns and countries beginning to adopt the Global Roadmap to 2030 strategy in their national cholera action plans, said Dominique Legros, who leads WHO's cholera program in Geneva.

Nearly 18 million doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) were shipped to 11 countries in 2018, the WHO said. Since the OCV stockpile was created in 2013, almost 60 million doses have been shipped worldwide.

Meanwhile, the Global Roadmap, a strategy launched in 2017 for effective long-term cholera control and elimination, aims to reduce cholera deaths by 90 percent and to eliminate transmission in up to 20 countries by 2030. It provides clear guidance for how to prevent and, ultimately, to eliminate cholera, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The new report showed several countries, including Zambia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, have made significant progress in developing national action plans within the framework of the Global Roadmap strategy.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Cholera affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if left untreated. WHO estimates that each year cholera infects one to four million people and claims up to 143,000 lives. Enditem

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