3,000 cases of cholera in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday
that it had recorded more than 3,000 cases of cholera in northern
Cameroun, Nigeria and Niger.
According to the UN agency, Cameroun had the highest cases with more than 2,800 cases and more than 200 deaths since May.
Onyebuchi Chukwu, Nigeria’s Health Minister had
indicated that the death toll and infection rate from the epidemic
could be higher.
Last Thursday, Mr Chukwu told the Hausa service of
the BBC that the death toll from the cholera outbreak in northern
Nigerian had risen to 231 while 4,600 others had been infected.
The UN agency said the fatality rates linked to
cholera in these countries were too high compared to the 1.0 per cent
threshold tolerated.
The Coordinator of the WHO’s group on cholera,
Claire-Lise Chaignat said there was clearly an epidemic of cholera
around the Lake Chad Basin where access to safe water is very scarce.
“We know that cholera is food-borne disease that
is in fact food that has been in contact with contaminated water is, of
course, at high risk of transmitting cholera to people.
“So, very good food hygiene is actually very important for preventing the disease from spreading,” she said in a statement.
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