Nigeria has issued four emergency requests for oral cholera vaccines as the country battles a sharp rise in infections and deaths, according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
The document, obtained on Friday, reveals that Nigeria recorded 22,102 cholera cases and 500 deaths by 26 October 2025, with a Case Fatality Rate of 2.3%. In just 28 days, the country logged 1,320 new cases and 33 deaths, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Globally, cholera transmission remains widespread, with more than 565,000 cases and 7,000 deaths reported across 32 countries. The Eastern Mediterranean Region is currently the worst affected, followed by Africa, South-East Asia, the Americas and the Western Pacific.
Across Africa, 13,253 new cases were reported in October alone, although this marks a drop from September. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and South Sudan continue to report the highest numbers. Nigeria accounted for 33 cholera deaths in October.
Between January and late October, African countries recorded 223,452 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths, with South Sudan, the DRC and Angola topping the charts.
On vaccine supply, the WHO noted that global stockpiles of the Oral Cholera Vaccine averaged 7.9 million doses in October—comfortably above the emergency minimum of five million. Even so, demand skyrocketed this year, with 50 emergency requests submitted to the International Coordinating Group (ICG) in the first ten months of 2025, compared with just 20 in 2024. Nigeria and several other countries collectively applied for 67 million doses, though only 49 million were approved.
The report highlights serious constraints affecting the global response, including limited vaccine supplies, poor water and sanitation infrastructure, weak disease surveillance, staff shortages, and the difficulty of reaching conflict-hit communities. It warns that climate pressures, cross-border movement and overstretched health systems continue to fuel outbreaks.
To tackle this, WHO, UNICEF, the IFRC and partners are strengthening coordination, improving outbreak forecasting, and prioritising vaccine allocation based on urgency. They are also urging increased global investment to bolster national preparedness.
The report also acknowledges recent support from the Government of Japan, which donated $500,000 worth of equipment, commodities, surveillance tools and training through the WHO to boost Nigeria’s cholera response. Items valued at $104,951 have already been handed over to the Federal Government through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in Abuja.
According to the WHO, this intervention aims to strengthen Nigeria’s ability to detect and respond swiftly to outbreaks, ultimately reducing illness and deaths.
