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A cholera outbreak in Cameroon killed at least a dozen people. Hundreds of people have been transported to several hospitals in the state of Central Africa. It is feared that some cases have been imported from Nigeria and could contaminate refugees fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency.
Arabo Saidou, the highest government official in charge of health in the northern region of Cameroon, says the first cases of cholera were reported along the border between Cameroon and Nigeria two months ago . He says the disease has continued to spread since four cholera cases were reported in the Mayo Oulo town in northern Cameroon on 18 May. He says that many people, especially children, die in hospitals.
In May, the Word Health Organization reported that the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in Nigeria had experienced recurring cholera outbreaks since February, with a total of 1,664 suspected cases and 31 deaths.
Many people from the three Nigerian states travel to Cameroon on business. At least a hundred thousand are in Cameroon as refugees fleeing the Boko Haram insurgency, with more than 90,000 at the Minawao refugee camp
Issac Bayoro, a Cameroonian epidemiologist working in the Mokolo administrative area where the Minawao refugee camp is located, explains that he is educating refugees to meet the standards of the country. Hygiene and that it tracks Nigerians who come to the camp to protect not only the refugees. but their host communities.
He says that many people continue to defecate in the open air or in streams and riverbeds where humans and animals go to get water to drink, thus facilitating the spread of cholera. He says that hygiene is not respected because many people do not wash their hands with soap as advised. He says people should stop believing that an African is naturally vaccinated and can not die from dirt.
The Cameroon Ministry of Health reported that the disease quickly spread to Yaounde and Douala, major cities of Central Africa. The case reported in Yaoundé was that of a teenager who went to Yaoundé from northern Cameroon with his mother. He died in a hospital, according to the government.
Thomas Tawe, a university student and resident of Yaounde, said he feared that cholera would spread quickly in the city because only 30% of the population has access to clean water.
"In the city of Yaoundé, only those who can pay can have water.When you enter the neighborhoods, you see that people are carrying water from unhygienic sources," said Tawe. "If the water is contaminated, we will automatically be contaminated."
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