At least
four pregnant women have died, while more than 400 internally displaced persons
(IDPs) have been infected with hepatitis E in
Ngala council area of Borno
state.
Nicolerta
Bellio, MSF medical coordinator, disclosed this in a statement issued in
Maiduguri, the state capital.
Bellio said
the highly contagious disease, which infiltrated the camp from Niger, spread
through Ngala camp due to a combination of poor living conditions and flooding.
WHAT IS HEPATITIS E?
• Hepatitis E
is a virus that affects the liver. It can be contacted by drinking water or
eating food that has been contaminated by feces from an infected person.
• It can also
contacted from contact with an animal, such as eating poorly cooked meat from
or touching an infected pig.
• Its
symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, nausea, jaundice, pain on the right side
of the belly, under the rib cage where the liver is.
According to
Bellio, the camp shelters some 45,000 people who have fled violence stemming
from the conflict between Boko Haram and the military.
Bellio said
given the poor living condition in the camp, it was a surprise that the number
of cases had not escalated, or even led to an outbreak of cholera.
“The
situation in Ngala is very worrying. The onset of the rainy season has caused
repeated flooding in the camp and water gushes across pathways, latrine holes
and into people’s shelters,” Bellio said.
“When it
rains, the whole camp gets covered in mud and dirty water. This is a recipe for
spreading bacteria and disease particularly as people don’t always use the
latrines that have been installed in the camp, so wastewater washes out
everywhere.
“There have
been more than 400 cases of hepatitis E in the past two months and we have
treated 170 patients at our hospital, so it’s no surprise that an outbreak of
hepatitis E has been declared.”
Bellio also
spoke of the dangers of the disease on pregnant women and sensitised the people
on how to avoid the disease.
“Generally,
people recover from hepatitis E if they receive treatment, but the disease can
be very dangerous for pregnant women and their unborn babies,” he said.
“Hepatitis E
leads to high rates of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths, as well as babies
being born prematurely.
” It can
also cause severe haemorrhages in mothers, both during childbirth and after
giving birth.
“Something
as simple as soap and clean water could have prevented these deaths.
“Our health
promotion teams are working with the community to clean the camp of dirty water
and waste.
“We have
also distributed soap and chlorinated the water supply, although chlorine is
less effective against hepatitis E than it is against cholera, for example.
“Other
humanitarian organisations have also worked to improve the water supply. The
rains will continue for several months, and we fear that this could mean more
cases of hepatitis E or, even worse, an outbreak of cholera.
“If this
happens, Ngala’s remote location and the security situation in the area will
make it very difficult for us to respond. In fact, it would be a disaster.
“MSF has
been working in Ngala camp since October 2016 and currently runs a hospital
providing inpatient and outpatient treatment, malnutrition treatment and
maternity.”
The Borno
state emergency managment authority (SEMA) is yet to make official comment on
the situation.
The Boko
Haram insurgency has had an adverse effect on residents of the north-east.
On Thursday,
Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, said the economic impact of Boko Haram
activities in the north-east is estimated at $9 billion (N274.5b).
Buratai,
represented by Peter Dauke, general officer commanding, 81 division, Lagos,
made the assertion at the first annual conference of the guild of corporate
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