Nigeria cholera outbreak kills dozens, sources say

A cholera outbreak in northeast Nigeria has killed dozens as insecurity and weak health infrastructure hamper the response, medical sources and residents said Friday.

The outbreak began in mid-June and has spiked over the past two weeks in communities around Lake Chad, including Doro, Bunduram, Baga and Kross Kauwa, as well as the garrison town of Monguno, residents said.

An anonymous medical worker at a clinic in Monguno said the clinic was receiving about 50 patients a day and that 40 percent were dying. The worker said deaths had previously ranged between two and five a day but had risen as patients arrived from remote farming communities.

Patients from remote areas often travel long distances without first aid before reaching Monguno, the medical worker said. Anti-jihadist militia member Labo Sani said a nighttime curfew imposed to prevent attacks had also forced some patients to wait until daybreak for care.

The exact toll is unclear. A spokesman for the Borno state governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The outbreak follows an earlier cholera surge that killed more than 70 people in areas in and around Maiduguri. Cholera spreads through bacteria-tainted water and food and can cause severe dehydration and diarrhoea.