India, Sept. 30 -- Cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae bacteria, continues to be a challenge for today's world, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on September 30, as it presented latest global trends in the ailment besides meningitis and plague.

Deaths due to cholera increased by 30 per cent in 2025, despite fewer cases being reported to the WHO, according to the statement.

"In 2025, 47 countries reported 451,499 cholera cases and 7,870 deaths to WHO. This is the highest number of annual cholera deaths reported to WHO since 1999. These figures reflect surveillance data reported to WHO and not the actual global burden of cholera, which is estimated to be substantially higher as many cases ...