Cholera outbreak in Nigeria Already 86 dead

Cholera outbreak in Nigeria already claimed 86 deaths

02/11/2013

In Nigeria, hundreds of people suffer from cholera. By Friday, 86 people had already died as a result of the epidemic.

More than 1,600 people with disease symptoms
For several days cholera has broken out in West African Nigeria. As Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said, at least 86 people had already fallen victim to the disease by Friday. The newspaper „Daily Trust“ reported that more than 1,600 people would experience disease symptoms.

Two weeks ago
A first case was apparently reported two weeks ago in the central Plateau State. From there, the infectious disease would have spread to the north and south of the country. The current outbreak of cholera is the worst epidemic since 2008. At that time, a total of 97 people had died in Nigeria.

Cholera can be deadly
Every year, between three and five million people worldwide contract cholera. The disease is one of the serious infectious diseases that, if left untreated, can lead to the death of the person affected. Mostly the disease is transmitted via contaminated water or food. Infected people get very strong diarrhea and vomiting and the body loses enormous amounts of fluid. In 99 percent of cases, the disease is curable when the extreme water and salt loss is treated. (Ad)

Image: Sebastian Karkus