Cholera Fact Sheet: The symptoms, mode of spread and prevention methods 

On October 14, 2024, the Ghana Health Service announced a cholera outbreak with nine (9) cases from the Greater Accra Region. As at the end of January 2025, the Ghana Health Service announced that the cholera death toll stood at 43 with a total of 480 infections.

What is cholera?

Ghana’s Ministry of Health (MOH) defines cholera as “a diarrhoeal disease caused by a germ found mostly in faeces. It spreads when a person drinks water or eats food that is contaminated with the cholera germ.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cholera causes an estimated 3 to 5 million cases and 100,000 to 120,000 deaths every year. The short incubation period (12 hours to 5 days) enhances the potentially explosive pattern of the outbreaks.

Below is a fact sheet on cholera with data sourced from Ghana’s Ministry of Health and the WHO

What are the symptoms of cholera?

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• Profuse diarrhoea 
• Vomiting
• Leg cramps  
• Loss of body fluid
• Feeling weak and tired

Symptoms appear 12 hours to 5 days after infection.

How can you get cholera?

• Drinking contaminated water; 
• Eating contaminated food (e.g., food that is raw, poorly cooked, or that becomes contaminated with poo (faeces) during preparation or storage); 
• Contact with poo (faeces), vomit or things that have been contaminated with the poo or vomit of someone who has cholera;  
• Unprotected contact with the body of someone who has died from cholera

How do you protect yourself from getting cholera?

•  Wash your hands with soap under safe running water before eating, cooking or after visiting the toilet
•  Drink safe water
•  Eat hot food and avoid cold food
•  Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating
•  Food handlers should wash their cups, plates and cutlery sets with soap and safe water regularly before use
•  Food handlers should cover food for sale.
•  People with acute diarrhoea should start drinking ORS and immediately visit the nearest health facility

By: GhanaFact 

Photo Credit: WHO / Billy Miaron
Copyright: © WHO / Billy Miaron

Photo of Nairobi slum backyard shot in 2023