Côte d’Ivoire: Ivory Coast Cholera – DREF Final Report (MDRCI018)

Country: Côte d’Ivoire Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Please refer to the attached file. Description of the Event Date when the trigger was met 01-08-2025 What happened, where and when? On 5 June 2025, health authorities confirmed a cholera outbreak in the village of Vridi Ako (also referred to in some early alerts as Ako Brakré), located in the Port-Bouët Vridi health district of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The area, home to approximately 19, 800 inhabitants—mainly fishing communities and migrants—has long been vulnerable to waterborne diseases due to poor sanitation, limited access to safe drinking water, and recurrent flooding. While the first confirmed cases were reported in early June in Vridi Ako, retrospective epidemiological investigations indicated that alertsignals and suspected cases had already emerged in late May, explaining the discrepancy in reported start dates across different reportsand surveillance updates. Following confirmation of the outbreak in Vridi Ako, the situation evolved rapidly from a localized outbreak into a multi-district epidemic. Within days, additional cases were reported beyond the initial epicentre, first spreading to nearby peri-urban and coastal areas, and subsequently extending to five additional health districts: Yopougon Est, Jacqueville, Sassandra, Fresco, and San Pedro. This marked a clear transition from a concentrated outbreak in Port-Bouët Vridi to a wider geographic spread affecting both urban and coastal periurban settings. The epidemiological curve showed two distinct phases of transmission intensity. The first peak occurred in June, concentrated in Vridi Ako, reflecting rapid local transmission driven by environmental contamination and high population mobility. A second and more geographically dispersed peak followed in July, associated with the emergence of new transmission hotspots in Yopougon Est and Sassandra, indicating secondary spread and establishment of additional foci outside the initial epicentre. A particularly high-risk cluster was also identified in a detention centre in Abidjan, where overcrowding and inadequate sanitation conditions accelerated transmission dynamics. This escalation from a single-community outbreak to a multi-district epidemic required a corresponding scale-up of the response. As an auxiliary to public authorities, the Red Cross Society of Côte d’Ivoire initially supported rapid needs and situation assessments during the first alerts in late May and early June, leveraging pre-positioned volunteers in Vridi Ako. As the outbreak expanded geographically and intensified during the July peak, the National Society scaled up operations across affected districts, reinforcing its WASH activities, health interventions, and risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) to address both containment in the original hotspot and prevention of further spread in newly affected areas. Despite continued transmission over several months, the outbreak gradually declined after the second peak. On 1 December 2025, the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene officially declared the end of the outbreak across all six affected health districts. In total, 556 cases and 24 deaths were reported over the course of the epidemic. By the end of the operation, no new cholera cases were being reported, and the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene officially declared the end of the outbreak on 1 December 2025. Transmission had been interrupted across all six affected health districts. However, important vulnerabilities remained in the affected communities, which continue to face overcrowding, recurrent flooding, inadequate sanitation, and limited access to safe water. Communities also expressed continued socio-economic needs and requested sustained support beyond the emergency phase. While health facilities resumed normal operations, many still faced shortages of medical supplies and equipment. To support preparedness, first-contact health centres in all affected districts were provided by CRCI with essential medical and hygiene supplies, including chlorine and soap during this operation to ensure sustainability of interventions beyond the outbreak. As part of the exit strategy, trained teams in the Abidjan detention centre remained operational and continued implementing disinfection activities using equipment provided by CRCI and the ICRC. In addition, recognizing the socio-economic impact of the epidemic, CRCI mobilized complementary funding to provide cash assistance to vulnerable households in Vridi Ako in February 2026, ahead of the Lent and Ramadan periods.

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