Perilous
Times
Cholera kills 35 in northern Nigeria
AFP
Cholera has killed 35 people in two northern Nigerian states in
recent days, officials said Tuesday, with outbreaks frequent in
the country during the rainy season.
"We have recorded 33 deaths from a cholera outbreak which infected
690 people in six (districts) in the last four days," said Fatsuma
Talba, Yobe state health commissioner.
She said health personnel and drugs were being dispatched to the
affected areas.
In Sokoto state, two deaths and 70 infections were recorded over
the last week, said state Health Commissioner Abdullahi Maigwandu.
The highly contagious intestinal infection is transmitted by water
soiled by human waste. The disease leads to diarrhoea, dehydration
and death if untreated.
Cholera outbreaks occur regularly during the rainy season in
Nigeria, when downpours wash contaminants into wells used by
families.
The rainy season typically runs from April to September.