Convening for Cholera Elimination through Research on Epidemiology and Transmission in Africa (CholERA) Proposal Development

Cholera continues to cause recurrent outbreaks across Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and DRC, driven by interconnected transmission across shared lakes, river systems, and informal border crossings. Climate extremes, population mobility, limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene, and entrenched structural inequities sustain vulnerability in persistent hotspots. Despite decades of control efforts, existing surveillance systems do not adequately explain why outbreaks recur in the same locations or how transmission spreads across national borders. CholERA is a multi-country, transdisciplinary research programme investigating the primary drivers of cholera transmission across interconnected hotspots in eastern and southern Africa. The programme integrates epidemiology, genomic surveillance, climate and hydrometeorological analysis, human mobility, behavioural science, and structural assessment to generate a systems-level understanding of transmission pathways and vulnerability. This application seeks support for a two-day in-person convening in Nairobi, Kenya to bring together CholERA investigators to finalise a competitive proposal for submission to Wellcome. The convening will align methodologies, strengthen cross-border collaboration, agree governance and equity principles, and define clear pathways to policy impact aligned with national cholera control plans and the Global Task Force on Cholera Control 2030 roadmap. Keywords Cholera elimination; climate and health; cross-border transmission; epidemic preparedness; genomic surveillance; human mobility; WASH; sub-Saharan Africa