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LAGOS: A cholera outbreak in north-eastern Nigeria has claimed nearly 100 lives over the past two weeks, the United Nations said. More than 3,000 cholera cases have been recorded in the states of Yobe and Borno in a region that is also grappling with a Boko Haram insurgency, it said. The number of recorded cases in Yobe and Borno states currently stands at 3,126, including 97 deaths, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday. A cholera outbreak has been declared in Yobe State, north-east Nigeria, by the State Ministry of Health, two weeks after a cholera outbreak was declared in neighboring Borno State. Boko Haram has intensified attacks, especially against military targets in recent months. On Wednesday, the UN reported that more than 500 people had died from cholera in the Lake Chad region since the start of the year, representing the worst outbreak to hit the area in four years. It said more than six million people could be affected by the outbreak without urgent action to control it. “The region is facing floods and heavy rains, creating an ideal environment for the outbreak to spread,” OCHA warned. The Lake Chad region straddles parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which are also having to deal with a jihadist insurgency. An outbreak in 2018 is consistent with the four-year cycle.”

The Lake Chad region straddles parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, which are also grappling with a jihadist insurgency

OCHA said Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, was the worst-hit with 24,000 cases and said the immediate action was needed to stem the disease. Cholera is caused by a bacterium transmitted through contaminated food or drinking water. It causes acute diarrhoea, with children particularly at risk. Water-borne diseases are a constant threat in the Lake Chad region because of a lack of adequate sanitation as well as stagnant groundwater during the rainy season.
The death toll of a cholera outbreak in Yobe and Borno, Nigeria, rises to 97.