About seven people have been declared dead and 200 others admitted in Maiduguri, Borno State capital from Cholera related diseases.
This was revealed by Dr. Anna Cillers, Medical Coordinator of Medicine San Frontières (MSF) while giving the update of the situation to journalists in Maiduguri. She noted that over 50 patients were received at MSF’s Cholera Treatment Unit at Dala.
In her words: “the total number of patients admitted from the start of the outbreak till now is over 200 with 100 discharges and 7 deaths”.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that MSF on Wednesday reported many scale up measures as part of efforts to prevent further deaths and the spread of cholera in the state.
Cillers said the MSF is working in collaboration with the Borno State Ministry of Health (MoH) and other organisations that are responding to the outbreak in the city.
The medical director further disclosed that MSF has established a 40 bed Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU) in Dala, which as at then admitted 70 patients.
She noted that the organisation had also set up an Oral Rehydration Point (ORP) in Muna camp and has a team of 14 Community Health Workers (CHW) who are helping to find new cases and trace community members who may have come into contact with affected patients.
In her words: “MSF has rapidly been responding to the cholera outbreak in Maiduguri. We set up a Cholera Treatment Unit in Dala earlier this year in anticipation of a potential outbreak. Since last weekend, we have witnessed a steady increase in the number of patients at our treatment centre and at the rehydration point in Muna camp,” said Anne-Cecile Niard, MSF Project Coordinator.
She added, “We are in the process of expanding the capacity of our treatment centre in Dala to 50 beds and are exploring the possibility of opening another treatment centre close to the most affected areas. We are worried that the number of beds that are currently planned will not be enough to cope at the peak of the outbreak.
“With early diagnosis and treatment, people have a very good chance of survival; already 37 patients have been discharged from our treatment centre in Dala,” she explained.