A humanitarian medical organisation, Medecins Sans Frontieres, said about 48 persons have died of cholera since the outbreak of the disease last month in Borno State.
The organisation, otherwise called Doctors Without Borders, said 2,627 cases of the disease were recorded by the Borno State Ministry of Health
Anna Cilliers, MSF’s Medical Coordinator, said the organisation had scaled up its campaign to contain the cholera outbreak in Maiduguri, Monguno and Dikwa local government areas of the state.
Cilliers said: “As new cases of cholera emerged from Monguno, Dikwa and other parts of Maiduguri, MSF continues to scale up its response in the state.
“The clock is ticking. The camps for displaced persons are congested; there is not enough water, sanitation facilities are poor, and the health care system is weak. We must tackle this urgently to avoid preventable suffering and loss of life,” said Peter Lundberg, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria.
“Since the start of the outbreak, a total of 2,627 cholera cases and 48 deaths were reported by the Borno State Ministry of Health. The state capital Maiduguri alone has witnessed 1,425 cases, while 600 cases in Dikwa and 602 cases in Monguno have so far been reported.
“Early diagnosis and treatment is vital to tackle cholera outbreak. “As cases of the disease increased in Maiduguri, we rapidly set up a 100-bed capacity Cholera Treatment Centre at Dala area of Maiduguri.”
Cilliers disclosed in a statement that since August 16, some 491 patients were admitted and 475 discharged at the centre.
She added that the organisation had also set up another 50-bed capacity CTU centre at the Muna Garage Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the outskirts of Maiduguri, adding that the centre would be upgraded to 100-bed capacity in the coming days, if the conditions warranted it.
The medical coordinator lamented that the disease has begun to spread to other camps in the surrounding area and into the city.
In response, the United Nations and its partners are seeking for $9.9 million to help curtail the effect of the cholera outbreak in Borno State, north-east Nigeria, and prevent further outbreaks in high-risk areas.
A Cholera Response and Prevention Plan has been developed to address the immediate needs of 3.7 million people that could be affected by the outbreak.
