Cholera Kills Seven at Maiduguri IDP Camps

 

Cholera has killed seven persons at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Also, there are threats that more lives may be lost in the camps as the outbreak of the disease has been reported in the town.

This was disclosed by the Medical Director of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Anna Cillers, who stated that seven persons were killed by cholera at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Muna and Dala Lawanti cholera treatment centre.

She said 100 patients have been discharged in the last three weeks after receiving treatment for the disease at the MSF centre in the town.

Cillers who briefed journalists on measures put in place to prevent the further spread of cholera in Maiduguri

metropolis and at IDP camps in the town,  said over 200 patients were admitted at the Dala treatment centre, since the outbreak of cholera last month.

She said: “In the last 24 hours in Maiduguri metropolis, we have received over 50 patients at MSF's Cholera Treatment Unit at Dala. The total number of patients admitted from the start of the outbreak till now is over 200 with 100 patients discharged and seven people died.”

Cillers said the MSF is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other organisations to respond to outbreaks and diagnoses of cholera in the metropolis and resettlement camps.

On containment of further spread, she said: “We have already established a

40 bed Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU) in Dala, which has so far admitted 70 patients. MSF has also set up an Oral Re-hydration Point (ORP) in Muna camp as well as constitute a team of 14 community health workers who are helping to find new cases and trace community members who may have come into contact with affected patients.

According to her, "Most of the cholera patients come from Muna Garage, a camp for people who have fled other parts of the state due to the ongoing conflict between the Nigerian armed forces and Boko Haram.”

Cillers attributed the outbreak of cholera to heavy rains in the last three days, adding that the rain led to the flooding of Muna camp.

She lamented that: "The camp is partly flooded, making the already poor sanitary conditions at the camp even worse, which is an additional risk factor in a cholera outbreak. A potential case has also now been reported from another part of the city."

The MSF leader said: "Since last weekend, we have witnessed a steady increase in the number of patients at our treatment centre and at the re-hydration point in Muna camp. We are in the process of expanding the capacity of our treatment centre in Dala to 50 beds and are exploring the possibility of opening another treatment centre close to the most affected areas."