Diphtheria in the Americas - Summary of the situation
Between epidemiological week (EW) 1 and EW 49 of 2018, three countries in the Region of the Americas (Colombia, Haiti, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) have reported confirmed cases of diphtheria. In Haiti and Venezuela, the outbreaks are ongoing.
The following is a summary of the epidemiological situation in these countries.
In Colombia, 8 confirmed cases including 3 deaths were reported this year; however, since July 2018, no additional cases of diphtheria have been reported.
In Haiti, between EW 51 of 2014 and EW 49 of 2018, there were 774 probable cases reported, including 105 deaths; of these, 261 were confirmed (254 by laboratory criteria and 7 by epidemiological link) (Table 1).