Cholera
outbreak in three Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps within
Maiduguri, Borno State, have left 16 people dead and 172 in critical
conditions, with World Health Organization, WHO, and UNICEF battling the
epidemic.
However,
Information Officer of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA,
Mallam Abdulkadir Ibrahim, in a telephone interview, said it was not an
outbreak of cholera, but reported cases of diarrhoea and vomiting.
NEMA is the sole agency in charge of feeding the IDPs since inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
The affected camps are those housing IDPs from Mafa along Dikwa/Ngala Road.
Health
officials at the camp told Vanguard that so far, 16 people had died of
the outbreak, while 172 were in serious condition as they work with
international organization to bring the situation under control.
One
of the health officials working with UNICEF told Vanguard, yesterday:
“The situation at the camps is terrible. It was sudden and already a
large number has been affected.
“At the last count, we have 16 dead and about 172 affected. We are in an emergency health situation in those camps.”
Damage control
It
was also gathered that the affected IDPs were prevented from leaving
the camp by security agents in a move to prevent spread of the disease
into the metropolis until the situation is brought under control.
Also, those affected have been separated from the unaffected, and all the IDPs are being treated with preventive medicine.
Another
medical official said: “The camps were unkept, unclean and with all
sort of waste all over which informed the outbreak and encouraged its
wild-fire spread.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that we control the spread. We encourage the IDPs to ensure cleanliness.”
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