Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
Scores die of cholera in Cameroon
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 29, 2010 12:52 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Deaths occurred in African country's High North region
* More than 600 people have been sickened
* Cholera is caused by contaminated water
(CNN) -- More than 100 people have died of cholera in Cameroon,
according to Joseph Beti Assomo, a regional governor.
The deaths occurred in the High North region of northern Cameroon, and
the fatalities come since a cholera outbreak warning in June.
More than 600 people have been stricken with the water-borne disease,
the governor said, but a local non-governmental organization, Cameroon
Health, said more than twice that number -- 1,500 people -- are sick.
According to a Cameroon Ministry of Water and Energy official, 70
percent of those living in the High North do not have access to potable
water.
There has been flooding in the region recently, and officials think it
might have aggravated the spread of the disease. It's the border region
of Nigeria and Chad, and is close to the the Chadian capital of
N'Djamena.
The disease is caused by contaminated water, and many people with
cholera suffer acute watery diarrhea, which leads to severe
dehydration. If left untreated, it can kill quickly, possibly within
hours, the World Health Organization says.
Journalist Moki Kindzeka in Yaounde, Cameroon, and CNN's Ben Brumfield
contributed to this report.