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afrol News, 25 July - From Niger, there are confirmed reports of one of the most serious cholera outbreaks in West Africa in recent times. In the country's southern zone, close to Benin and Nigeria, over 100 cases of cholera have been confirmed by the government. The Nigerien Ministry of Public Health has reported a total of 104 cases with 8 deaths (correspnding with a case-fatality rate of 7.7 percent) from 9 June to 22 July in Gaya district, Dosso Region in the south of the country near the border with Benin and Nigeria. The so-called 'Vibrio cholerae El Tor' had been laboratory confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory in Niger, the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday announced. The Nigerien Ministry of Public Health and local health authorities had "implemented measures to control the outbreak, including the intensification of surveillance in Gaya district as well as in the rest of the country, health education campaigns and chlorination of wells and other activities to improve sanitary conditions," WHO reports. The UN health agency further had "supported this effort by providing drugs for treatment and transport facilities for health education and social mobilisation teams," it reported from Geneva.
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