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Nigeria – North-East Flash Update No. 3 – Cholera Outbreak, 11 September 2018

Países
Nigeria
Fuentes
OCHA
Fecha de publicación

A cholera outbreak was declared in Borno State, north-east Nigeria, on 5 September 2018 by the state Ministry of Health.

A total of 889 cases of suspected cholera have been recorded in eight local government areas (LGAs), including 19 deaths, as of 10 September 2018. This represents a fatality rate of 2.1 per cent.
In the previous flash update, 680 cases had been recorded, with 18 deaths. The number of cases has increased by 30 percent between 7 September and 10 September 2018, including one additional death. Jere, Magumeri and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) have seen the largest spike in case numbers, largely due to the poor water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in these areas that are also congested.

The first suspected cases were recorded on 19 August 2018. The following cases have been recorded (see map): Jere (306 including 3 deaths) - Magumeri (212 including 4 deaths) - MMC (181 including 5 deaths) - Chibok (94 including 3 deaths) - Konduga (52 including 3 deaths) - Kaga (28 including 1 death) - Damboa (8) - Shani (8).

The Response

• Active case search and identification of cases is ongoing. Health organisations are carrying out risk communications, which include making visits to households to encourage individuals with choleralike symptoms to be screened. By communicating at a household level in this way, health partners have visited 2,301 households.

• A 100-bed Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) is operational in Dala (a locality in MMC), and in Magumeri LGA a Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU) has been set up in an existing health facility. Oral Rehydration Points (ORPs) have also been set up in El-Miskin, Muna Garage and Customs House camps for internally displaced people. Additional ambulances are required in all affected LGAs to transport those seeking treatment. The CTC in Dala is overstretched, and an additional 100-bed CTC is required there.

• The most effective prevention measures against cholera are basic hygiene practices, including the use of clean and safe water and proper sanitation. Hygiene promotion activities, including radio broadcasts in Marghi, Hausa, Kanuri and Shuwa, are underway in the affected LGAs to sensitize people to the risk of cholera, teach them how to prevent and manage diarrhea at home, and educate them on the use of chloride tablets for household water treatment and safe water storage. There is also messaging on the dangers of open defecation. Approximately 1,500 households in the affected LGAs have been reached with hygiene promotion.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.