Cholera Outbreak: 74 dead, over 7,800 cases strain Borno facilities

Borno State in Nigeria is grappling with a severe cholera outbreak, which has resulted in 74 deaths and infected over 7,800 people since early May. The escalating crisis is placing significant strain on the region's health facilities.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is collaborating with the Borno State Ministry of Health to combat the epidemic. The organization established a Cholera Treatment Centre in Maiduguri on May 7, initially with 121 beds, but rapidly expanded it to 271 beds due to a surge in admissions. A separate 20-bed unit was also opened to accommodate the growing number of patients.

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Every day, we see more people arriving with severe watery diarrhoea and dehydration, many of whom have travelled long distances to reach care.

As of June 7, MSF had treated 7,439 patients across these facilities, averaging approximately 230 admissions daily. June 5 saw a record high of over 500 admissions in a single day. "Every day, we see more people arriving with severe watery diarrhoea and dehydration, many of whom have travelled long distances to reach care," said Bienfait Tombola, MSF’s project medical coordinator. He noted that while collaboration has enabled a rapid scale-up of response efforts, more action is needed to prevent transmission and ensure early access to care.

MSF is also supporting healthcare worker training, establishing oral rehydration points, conducting health promotion, and improving surveillance and water chlorination. However, the organization cautioned that the outbreak's speed and scale are overwhelming current response capabilities. Cholera and other water-borne diseases thrive in areas with poor access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare, particularly in informal settlements. Tombola stressed that cholera vaccination is key to containment.

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The collaboration between the Ministry of Health, MSF and other partners has enabled a rapid scale-up of several aspects of the response, but the continued increase in cases shows that more needs to be done to prevent transmission and ensure people can access care as early as possible.