The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Monday that suspected cases of cholera have skyrocketed in northeast Nigeria, killing 175 people.
According to the Humanitarian group, the deaths were out of the 10,000 people affected by the fast-spreading outbreak in the northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as of early November 2018.
Boko Haram triggered violence has forced thousands of people to seek refuge in crowded camps in the northeast.
“One of the major causes of the outbreak is the congestion in the camps that makes it difficult to provide adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services,” said Janet Cherono, the NRC’s programme manager in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
She added that “the rainy season has also worsened the conditions. If more land is not urgently provided for camp decongestion and construction of health and sanitation facilities, Nigeria is steering towards yet another cholera outbreak in 2019.”
Nigeria has seen regular cholera outbreaks since Boko Haram fighters took up arms against the government in 2009.
More than 1.8 million people have been displaced by the bloody conflict, which has claimed more than 27,000 lives and shattered daily life in the Lake Chad region.
Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, is housing 243,000 displaced people in crowded camps with poor hygiene facilities, creating a fertile environment for cholera to spread, according to the NRC.
Source: Africafeeds.com
