Effectiveness review: Cholera response Sierra Leone 2012/13

The 2012 cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone generated the highest number of reported cases in the country since the 1970s, when the first cholera cases were officially reported. 1 In total 22,973 cholera cases were reported and 299 cholera deaths were recorded between January 1 and December 31 2012.2 The outbreak, which was first confirmed in northern border districts in early 2012, spread across 12 out of the country’s 13 districts in the latter half of the year, greatly facilitated by heavy seasonal rains and overcrowding and poor sanitation in human settlements. On August 17, 2012, when over 2,100 new cases were reported for the previous week and the mortality rate reached 1.8 per cent (nearly double the threshold for a state of emergency), the President of Sierra Leone tardily announced a national public health crisis.