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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) otherwise known as Doctors Without Borders, has raised the alarm over the worsening cases of cholera in Borno State.
It said the cholera outbreak in Borno has escalated sharply, with suspected cases climbing to more than 35,500 and the death toll reaching 198, thus placing enormous pressure on healthcare facilities and stretching emergency response efforts.
It also disclosed that the disease has spread beyond Borno into neighbouring Plateau State, where health authorities have reported 102 suspected cholera cases.
MSF made reference to the Borno State Ministry of Health report, which indicated that the outbreak which began with the first suspected cases on May 1, had spread rapidly through overcrowded informal settlements where access to safe drinking water, sanitation and healthcare remains severely limited.
MSF in a statement, yesterday, said it had treated more than 24,000 patients with suspected cholera as of July 12, with more than one in four arriving in critical condition.
The humanitarian organisation further warned that despite scaling up its intervention, the disease is spreading faster than containment efforts. “We have significantly expanded our response over the past two months, but the transmission is still spreading faster than efforts to contain it, mainly due to a lack of access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare,” said Bienfait Tombola, MSF Project Medical Coordinator in Maiduguri.
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MSF noted that among the patients receiving treatment is 13-year-old Muhammad Usman, who was rushed by ambulance to an MSF-supported Cholera Treatment Centre after suffering severe diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain before losing consciousness.
His mother, Hadiza Ali, said the family realised he had likely contracted cholera only after his condition became critical.
Nevertheless, MSF said it’s working closely with the Borno State Government and other humanitarian organisations to support two Cholera Treatment Centres, five Cholera Treatment Units and 17 Oral Rehydration Points across the state to provide lifesaving care.
The organisation said limited public awareness of how cholera spreads is also hampering efforts to contain the outbreak. “A patient, 65-year-old Kyari Ali, said many members of his family and community had been infected but knew little about the disease.
“Many people in my family and community have suspected cholera. I even have relatives who are also here in the treatment centre. I don’t know how I got the disease. I don’t know how cholera spreads,” he said.
MSF explained that Cholera is an acute bacterial infection transmitted through contaminated food and water. It causes severe watery diarrhoea and dehydration and can become fatal within hours if left untreated.
To curb transmission, MSF said it has intensified community sensitisation campaigns, trained healthcare workers, strengthened infection prevention measures and chlorinated key water collection points.
The organisation said it also supported an oral cholera vaccination campaign conducted by health authorities in early July, which reached more than 2.6 million people across Borno State.
But despite the interventions, MSF warned that inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare particularly in informal settlements continues to fuel the outbreak.
It called for urgent expansion of access to clean water and sanitation, stronger disease surveillance, prompt treatment and wider vaccination campaigns to contain the outbreak and prevent more deaths.
