The European Union has released €2.3 million in emergency humanitarian funding to Nigeria and three other African countries to contain cholera outbreaks that have infected tens of thousands of people and claimed more than 1,200 lives across the continent this year.
Nigeria will receive the largest share, €1.5 million, to strengthen outbreak response through the deployment of additional intervention teams, provision of cholera treatment supplies and intensified water, sanitation and hygiene measures.
The European Commission announced the funding on Monday, saying the intervention would also strengthen epidemiological surveillance, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, improve case management and expand risk communication and community sensitisation.
The emergency support comes as cholera continues to pose a major public health threat across Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 61,888 cases and 1,230 deaths across 16 African countries between January 1 and May 31, 2026.
Nigeria accounted for 6,860 cases and 80 deaths during the period, placing it among the countries with the highest reported cholera burdens on the continent.
The WHO data showed that Nigeria recorded 5,798 new cases and 54 deaths in May alone, underscoring the continuing intensity of the outbreak.
Under the Nigerian component of the EU funding, additional response teams will be deployed while essential cholera kits and other supplies will be delivered to affected communities.
The funding will also support the treatment of public water points and household water, strengthen surveillance in inaccessible areas and improve the detection and management of suspected and confirmed cases.
The EU said risk communication and community engagement would be expanded to help residents understand how cholera spreads and the preventive measures required to curb transmission.
Cameroon will receive €100,000 for outbreak containment and case management. The funds will support additional humanitarian personnel, essential medicines, cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points in some of the country’s worst-affected communities.
The Central African Republic will receive €500,000 to scale up case management and vaccination, alongside water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. The allocation will also strengthen surveillance, case detection, risk communication and community engagement, while supporting safe and dignified burials.
Chad is to receive €200,000 to help break the chain of transmission through improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as community support for surveillance and case management.
EU Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said the emergency assistance was necessary because cholera continued to threaten communities without adequate access to safe water and healthcare.
“Cholera is preventable and treatable. Yet it still threatens lives when people lack something as basic as safe water and healthcare,” Lahbib said.
She said the intervention was being deployed at a time when humanitarian needs were rising while available resources were declining.
“Europe is not looking away. This emergency funding will help our partners act quickly, contain the outbreaks and protect the communities most at risk,” she added.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and is primarily transmitted through contaminated food or water. Severe cases can result in rapid dehydration and death if treatment is delayed.
The WHO has warned that cholera outbreaks are becoming increasingly difficult to control due to conflict, population displacement, climate-related events, inadequate infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, particularly in rural and flood-affected communities.
The scale of the 2026 outbreak has further exposed the vulnerability of African countries to diseases associated with inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure.
WHO figures showed that the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the continent’s highest number of cases between January and May, with 28,567 cases and 815 deaths. South Sudan followed with 7,712 cases, while Mozambique recorded 7,500 cases.
The WHO has cautioned that reported figures may not fully reflect the actual burden because of under-reporting, reporting delays and differences in surveillance systems and case definitions across countries.
Nigeria has also received broader international assistance to strengthen its capacity to detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. In May, the EU and WHO launched a €4.2 million programme to strengthen selected Nigerian public health institutions, including their capacity for early outbreak detection and faster information sharing.
With the latest €1.5 million allocation, immediate priorities in Nigeria will include containing transmission, expanding access to treatment and ensuring that high-risk communities have safe water, improved sanitation and reliable public health information.
The EU said the broader emergency intervention was designed to enable humanitarian partners to respond rapidly, contain outbreaks and protect communities most vulnerable to cholera.
