Surveillance in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia and elsewhere, cholera is underreported and leads to an underestimation of the global burden of this disease. The World Health Organization estimates that officially reported cases of cholera represent only 5–10% of the actual number occurring annually worldwide because of inadequate laboratory and epidemiological surveillance systems and economic, social and political disincentives to case reporting ¹.

Cases of cholera officially reported to WHO in Southeast Asia do not include an estimated 500,000–700,000 cases labeled as acute watery diarrhea ².