The European Union has released €2.3 million in emergency humanitarian funding to Nigeria and three other African countries to strengthen efforts to contain cholera outbreaks, with Nigeria receiving the largest share of €1.5 million.
The funding will support Nigeria’s response to the disease through the deployment of additional intervention teams, provision of essential cholera kits, improved disease surveillance and intensified water, sanitation and hygiene measures.
The European Commission announced the intervention on Monday, saying the funding would also strengthen epidemiological surveillance, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, improve case management and expand risk communication and community sensitisation.
The intervention comes amid a significant cholera burden across Africa. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 61,888 cholera cases and 1,230 deaths were reported across 16 African countries between January 1 and May 31, 2026.
Nigeria recorded 6,860 cases and 80 deaths during the period covered by the WHO report. The country also recorded 5,798 new cases and 54 deaths in May alone, placing it among the countries with the highest reported cholera burden in the African Region that month.
Under the Nigerian component of the EU funding, additional intervention teams will be deployed while essential cholera supplies will be provided to affected communities.
The funding will also support the treatment of public water points and household water, strengthen disease surveillance in inaccessible areas, improve case detection and management, and expand risk communication and community sensitisation on cholera prevention.
Cameroon will receive €100,000 for outbreak containment and case management. The allocation will support additional humanitarian personnel, essential medicines, cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points in some of the country’s worst-affected villages.
The Central African Republic will receive €500,000 to scale up case management and vaccination, alongside water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. The funds will also strengthen risk communication, community engagement, surveillance and case detection, as well as support dignified and safe burials.
Chad will receive €200,000 to help break the chain of transmission through improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene, alongside community support for surveillance and case management.
The EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said the emergency funding was necessary because cholera continues to threaten communities without adequate access to safe water and healthcare.
Lahbib said cholera was preventable and treatable but continued to claim lives where people lacked access to safe water and healthcare. She added that the intervention came at a time when humanitarian needs were increasing while available resources were shrinking.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is mainly transmitted through contaminated food or water and can cause severe dehydration and death within hours in serious cases if treatment is not provided.
The WHO has warned that cholera outbreaks are becoming increasingly difficult to control because of conflict, population displacement, climate-related events, poor infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, particularly in rural and flood-affected communities.
WHO data showed that the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the highest number of reported cases in Africa between January and May, with 28,567 cases and 815 deaths, followed by South Sudan with 7,712 cases and Mozambique with 7,500 cases. Nigeria’s 6,860 cases placed it among the countries with the highest reported burdens during the period.
The WHO has cautioned that reported figures may be affected by under-reporting, reporting delays and differences in surveillance systems and case definitions across countries.
Nigeria has also received broader international support to strengthen its capacity to detect and respond to disease outbreaks. In May, the EU and WHO launched a €4.2 million programme aimed at strengthening selected Nigerian public health institutions, including their capacity to detect outbreaks earlier and share information more rapidly.
With the latest €1.5 million cholera allocation, the immediate priority will be to contain transmission, expand access to treatment and ensure that communities most at risk have access to safe water, sanitation and reliable public health information.
The EU said the wider emergency response would enable humanitarian partners to act quickly, contain the outbreaks and protect communities most at risk.
