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More than 200 children among 500 cholera deaths in Nigeria
( 2001-11-24 14:25 ) (8 )

An outbreak of cholera in two northern Nigerian states has killed more than 200 children, among a total of more than 500 dead in the past month, hospital staff said on Friday.

More than 200 out of just over 600 children admitted in the past 10 days to the Hafiya Bayero Pediatric Hospital in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, have died, a senior staff nurse told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We have had to bury a lot of them. We have had more than 200 dead in the past ten days, since this thing started," a senior staff nurse at the Hafiya Bayero Pediatric Hospital, the largest children's hospital in Kano, told AFP.

Almost 3,000 people have been admitted to hospitals in the region, putting a severe strain on staff and supplies.

"We are running out of drips, gloves, everything," the staff nurse in Kano said.

Some of the equipment supplied by the Kano State health ministry was past its expiry date, she added.

"They have given us drips but we cannot use them. They expired on November 1. We are running out of gloves so our staff are exposing themselves to risks," she said.

At least 3000 of more than 2,500 people admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in central Kano have died, staff there said.

"The total number of dead now is well over 300. That is a conservative figure," said a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dozens of new cases are arriving every day, one hospital worker said. Around 160 people arrived for treatment on Wednesday and another 180 on Thursday.

Earlier Friday, a local lawmaker in neighbouring Jigawa State said the outbreak had spread there.

More than 150 people have been admitted to the main government hospital in Gumel over the past two weeks and at least 20 of those have died, Ibrahim Aminu, a lawmaker from Gumel in Jigawa said.

The outbreak is spreading partly because of the inability of the state government to respond speedily to the crisis, the lawmaker admitted.

"We do not have adequate funds in the state health ministry to purchase drugs for distribution to hospitals," he explained.

The authorities in Kano State have been reluctant to discuss the situation there and have sought to play down the seriousness of the outbreak.

The Kano State health commissioner said earlier this week that 30 people had died, but hospital staff told reporters that is far below the actual toll.

Cholera, a waterborne viral disease that is endemic in many of the world's poorest regions, is characterised by diarrhoea, vomitting, muscle cramps and severe loss of body fluids. It can lead to death if not properly treated.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Kano and other northern Nigerian cities live in unsanitary conditions, with little or no access to clean drinking water. The disease spreads quickly in overcrowded districts.