[ 2011-09-24 ]

New outbreak kills six as cholera spreads in Nigeria
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - A fresh cholera outbreak in
northern Nigeria has killed at least six people,
raising the overall toll in the country to more
than over 200 in recent months, officials said
Friday.

The latest outbreak was recorded in the Kebbi
state town of Koko where at least 182 cholera
cases were recorded in the past two weeks, the
state's health commissioner Shehu Sambawa said.

"We have recorded six deaths from cholera in Koko
in the past two weeks that infected 182 people,"
Sambawa said.

Around 70 people have died of cholera in under two
months in the state.

Nigeria's senate on Thursday launched an
investigation into the recurring cholera
epidemics, stating that 234 people have died in 15
of the country's 36 states so far this year,
according to local media.

Cholera, an intestinal infection, is transmitted
by water soiled by human waste. The disease leads
to diarrhoea, dehydration and death if untreated.

In Nigeria, cholera outbreaks occur regularly
during the rainy season, when downpours wash
contaminants into wells used by families.

The rainy season typically runs from April to
September.

Source - AFP

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