UNICEF: Cholera victims in Borno IDP camps being kept away from treatment

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) says its efforts to contain the cholera outbreak in internally displaced persons camps across Borno are being slowed down by people hiding suspected cases.

According to UNICEF, 1626 people have been affected by the cholera outbreak as at September 11.

According to Souleymane Sow, a UNICEF official, 40 people have died from the outbreak, an increase from the 23 cases reported on September 6.

“When the people are sick they don’t proactively report to the clinics,” he said, adding that aid workers were conducting visits to homes in the camps to bring sick people to treatment centres.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection spread by contaminated food and water. It can be easily treated with oral rehydration solution if caught early but can kill within hours if left untreated.

Reuters reports that most cholera-related deaths have been recorded at the Muna Garage camp, on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Aside from Muna Garage, other camps that have reported cholera cases are Custom House, Ruwan Zafi and Bolori II. Outbreaks have also been reported in Monguno and Dikwa.

Borno state said there were 945 suspected cases in the Muna area, 537 in Dikwa and 144 in Monguno as of September 11.

“The number of cases has increased exponentially in Monguno,” Sow said, adding suspected cases also rising in Dikwa.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram insurgency and the UN estimates that 5.2 million people in north-east Nigeria do not have secure access to food, with tens of thousands already in famine-like conditions.