Fear of disease outbreak grows in Maiduguri following severe flooding – MFS warns

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned about the significant risk of malaria and waterborne diseases, including cholera, following the recent flooding that swallowed vast parts of Maiduguri.

MSF also called for urgent additional support, especially in terms of water, sanitation, and medical care, to protect people already heavily impacted by long-term insecurity and unprecedented levels of malnutrition.

This was contained in electronic messages by MSF Field Communications Manager, Zoe Bennell to newsmen in Maiduguri on Friday.

According to MSF, there is also fear that this crisis could increase the levels of malnutrition in the area.

“On 10 September, heavy rain caused the Alau Dam in Borno State to overflow, leading to major floods in and around the city of Maiduguri. The deluge heavily impacted houses, markets, fields, livestock, and several health facilities. According to Borno State authorities, close to 400,000 people have been registered in 30 makeshift displacement sites. Most of the sites are schools with too few latrines and a lack of safe drinking water.

“We are very concerned about the precarious living conditions and the potential outbreaks of cholera and malaria”, says Issaley Abdel Kader MSF Head of mission in Nigeria. “The number of children affected by malaria and acute watery diarrhoea had already started to increase before the flooding, and we have seen some with clinical signs of cholera since the floods. We are afraid that the number of cases will rise without the increase of medical and humanitarian support, especially regarding water, sanitation and hygiene.”

Last week, MSF teams went to several displacement sites (Galtimari, Yerwa, Ali Sheriff, Vocational Enterprise Institute, Teachers Village) to assess people’s needs and start the provision of essential services such as access to water through water-trucking and water tanks, the installation and repair of latrines, and the distribution of mosquito nets.

Read also: Severe flooding worsens Nigeria’s public health crisis

It added that the Borno State government has announced the closure and merging of most displacement sites in the coming days. They plan to keep three main sites to accommodate people who still have no place to stay for one more week, and a mass cholera vaccination is upcoming.

“All parties involved in the humanitarian response must continue providing assistance to the people affected by the floods as long as it will be necessary and ensure immediate and easy access to medical care for those who need it. The closure of most sites means that many will find themselves in a very vulnerable situation. For those remaining in the sites, prompt action must be taken to swiftly improve hygiene conditions, including access to latrines, safe water and mosquito nets,” says Issaley.

Support for communities won’t just be needed at the new displacement sites. Well before the flooding, the entire population of Maiduguri was already facing huge challenges, including one of the worst malnutrition crises recorded in northeast Nigeria. In the past months, hundreds of severely malnourished children were admitted every week in the MSF nutritional care hospital.

“Admissions to the nutritional facilities had just started to reduce when the flooding occurred”, says Dr. Ashok Shrirang Sankpal, deputy medical coordinator MSF Nigeria. “With markets and businesses heavily impacted, the harvest damaged and livestock washed away, there is huge concern that the downward trend will reverse and admissions start to rise again.”