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Cameroon cholera death toll at 170

The death toll from the worst cholera outbreak in northern Cameroon in 10 years has risen to 170 with dozens more people infected this week, the health ministry said.

The new toll of 170, compiled on Wednesday, was up from 155 recorded on Monday, a ministry report said.

The number of cases had risen to 2,266 from 2,078 two days ago, it said.

The first case was detected on May 6 and they are all in the Extreme North region.

Cholera outbreaks are common in northern Cameroon, especially during the rainy season, but this year's is the worst in 10 years.

Last year 51 people died from the disease.

Problems over water supplies, hygiene standards and illiteracy were aggravating the outbreak, officials say.

Outbreak of Cholera in Northern Nigeria

Another cholera outbreak has killed 40 people while 115 others have been infected in northern Nigeria's Borno State in the past week, a senior official said.

"We have recorded cholera outbreak in eight of the 27 local governments in the state with 40 fatalities and 115 infections," state commisioner for local government affairs Abdurrahman Terab told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the state capital, which he said has been worst hit.

Health officials and drugs have been deployed to the affected areas while investigations into the outbreak have commenced, he said.

He said the refusal of those infected to be quarantined in designated health centres has led to the spread of the disease.

More than 260 people died of cholera in four northern states in the last quarter of 2009.

Cholera is a water-borne disease and can also be transmitted by food that has been in contact with sewage.

It causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration.

With a short incubation period, it can be fatal if not treated in time.

Health experts say a surge in cholera outbreaks is noticeable in Nigerian villages in the rainy season when rain water washes dirt into open wells and ponds which most villages rely on for drinking.

(Sapa, August 2010)

Read more:

Cameroon cholera kills 155

What causes cholera?

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