Death toll from cholera rises to 71 in Nigeria: official

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The death toll from a cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria's Adamawa State has risen to 71 from 52 a month ago, the state health commissioner said on Friday.

"The death toll from the cholera outbreak stands at 71 out of the 746 cases recorded in some areas in the northern part of the state", Zainab Baba Kwanci told AFP from state capital city Yola.

"Cholera cases have been recorded in seven out of the 21 local governments in the state and the government is doing all within its powers to contain the outbreak. We have dispatched drugs to the affected areas", she said.

However a strike by medical workers in the state since July 25 was hampering efforts to assist the sick.

Last September, a spate of cholera outbreaks in northern Nigeria claimed almost 100 lives in Katsina, Zamfara and Bauchi states.

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.

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