The death toll from a cholera outbreak in restive northeast Nigeria has risen to 21, with most of the victims living in a camp for people displaced by Boko Haram violence, the health ministry said Tuesday. On Saturday, the ministry had said the cholera toll was 14 in the town of Maiduguri, with most of the victims living in a camp for people displaced by Boko Haram violence.
As of 4 September, 21 deaths have been reported," the Borno state health ministry said Tuesday, as the toll mounts. "The total number of suspected cholera cases is now 375 in Maiduguri," it said, up from 186 at the weekend.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the disease has affected six areas in the state, with the Muna Garage IDP camp on the outskirts of the capital, Maiduguri, the most affected.
The government and NGOs are working to contain the outbreak which has spread to the town of Dikwa, 60km away, where five cases had been reported, it added.
After the investigation by the Borno State Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation and some other agencies, cholera outbreak was confirmed.
