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More 350 people have died in Cholera outbreak in Nigeria between January and September, according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) released on Monday.
The data shows that the death toll is more than three times higher than in the same period last year which stood at 106.
This represents a 239% increase over the same period.
Also, the number of suspected cholera cases has also risen compared to the previous year, from 3,387 to 10,837 in the first nine months, according to DW.Com.
What really makes Nigera more vulnerable to cholera outbreak is the lack of access to potable water.
Nigeria’s most populous city and financial capital, Lagos State, recorded the highest number of cases, according to the report.
The report also shows that most of those affected were children under the age of five.
The lack of drinkable water in rural areas and urban slums makes Nigeria especially vulnerable to cholera outbreaks, a waterborne disease.
Recall, last week, cholera outbreak also affected Borno state of which 17 cases were confirmed, but no deaths have been reported.
Additionally, Borno’s sanitation facilities and water sources have been severely compromised since the start of the Boko Haram insurgency 15 years ago.
“We are recording an increasing number of Acute Watery Diarrhea suspected Cholera which is not unconnected with the flood devastation,” Baba Mallam Gana, Borno’s Health Commissioner, said on Friday.
The Nigerian Health Ministry has provided Borno with 300,000 doses of the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) to combat the situation, though the state is still expecting 600,000 more doses, according to Gana.
The vaccines have been distributed across displacement camps and flood-affected communities.
