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Suspected cholera cases have jumped in northeast Nigeria where Boko Haram violence has been forced to seek refuge in crowded camps, the Norwegian Refugee Council said Monday.
The humanitarian group said 10,000 people were affected by the fast-spreading cholera outbreaks and died in the northeast of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe as of early November 2018.
"One of the major causes of the outbreak is the congestion in the camps that makes it difficult to provide adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services," said Janet Cherono, the NRC's program manager in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state.
"The rainy season is also urgently needed for cholera outbreak in the United States."
Nigeria has seen regular cholera outbreaks since Boko Haram took up arms against the government in 2009.
More than 1.8 million people have been displaced by the bloody conflict, which has claimed more than 27,000 lives and shattered daily life in the Lake Chad region.
Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, is housing 243,000 displaced people in crowded camps with poor hygiene facilities, creating a fertile environment for cholera to spread, the NRC said.
Cholera is caused by a bacterium transmitted through contaminated food or drinking water. It causes acute diarrhea, with children particularly at risk.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, suffers from a high-rate of water-borne diseases as a result of dilapidated infrastructure and under-investment.
On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari declared a "state of emergency" in the country's water sanitation sector, describing the statistics on open defecation and access to piped water as "disturbing".
Cholera is caused by a bacterium transmitted by food and drinking water and causes diarrhoea, with children particularly at risk
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