Latest cumulative figures indicate that recorded cholera cases have now risen to 1 786 since December 19 last year when an outbreak was declared in some parts of the country.
The cases are from 14 affected districts across the country.
About three months ago, the cases were at 1 656 and the new figures indicate that 130 cases have been registered since then, nine of which were recorded on Monday.
Since June this year, the death toll has gone up with cumulative registered deaths now at 58 from 43 in December 2015.
Ministry of Health (MoH) spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe on Tuesday said out of the 14 affected districts, Machinga is the hardest hit with 829 cases and 18 deaths.
“Machinga is [followed] by Zomba which has recorded 312 cases and three deaths; third on the list is Karonga as it registered 238 cases and 13 deaths,” he said.
According to Chikumbe, case fatality rate (CFR), a measure of the severity of a disease, has been the highest in Karonga where despite registering fewer cases and later than Zomba, 13 deaths were recorded.
MoH director of preventive health services Storn Kabuluzi in January said temporary shelters constructed near Lake Chilwa was one of the reasons the area continued to register high numbers of cholera cases as people use the lake as a latrine.
Meanwhile, Chikumbe said that continues to be the problem and the reason cholera cases continue to be registered despite being a dry period.
He said: “There are low levels of sanitation around Lake Chilwa and it has the highest contamination of Vibrio cholera, the bacterium that causes cholera.”
