Cholera epidemic in riverside villages threatens to spread to capital

A cholera epidemic in villages along the Niger river has killed 27 people over the past four months and threatens to spread to the capital Niamey, a senior government health official said. Doctor Kiari, the head of the National System of Health Information (SNIS), told IRIN that 1,426 cases of cholera had been recorded between 3 May and 15 August, the last date for which figures were available. He said the government had established 14 cholera treatment centres and these were well supplied with drugs, but the outbreak was likely to persist so long as people insisted on drinking polluted river water without boiling or chlorinating it first. He expressed fears that the highly infectious disease, which causes violent diarrhoea, fever and vomiting, would eventually spread to Niamey, a city on the banks of the Niger river with a population of nearly one million. Kiari said 84 percent of the cholera cases reported so far originated in villages on the east bank of the Niger river, near the town of Tillabery, 110 km northwest of Niamey. There had been 1,196 cases and 19 deaths in Tillabery district, he added. Kiari said most of the remaining cases were in Tera district, opposite Tillabery on the west bank of the Niger, and in Kollo district, closer to Niamey. Cases had been recorded only 50 km from the city, he added. For the past 30 years, cholera epidemics have been a recurrent problem in villages along the Niger river, flaring up every rainy season. The authorities are advising people to drink water from boreholes and approved wells rather than the river, but many rural communities lack proper access to a source of clean water. They are also urging people to cook food properly. Japan, Italy, Canada, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have all provided medical supplies to help deal with the current cholera outbreak, but a medical evaluation mission to the affected area earlier this month concluded that more medical supplies and disinfectant were needed.