LAGOS, Nigeria — More than 1,500 people have died in Nigeria from a cholera outbreak this year, international health officials said Monday, more than double the last estimates provided by federal officials.

The deaths come as the waterborne illness continues to plague other West African nations, including tiny Benin, where humanitarian officials worry a devastating flood there may spread it further. But officials hope oil-rich Nigeria will see fewer cases in the coming weeks as the dry season approaches and local governments attempt to warn people of the danger.

As of Oct. 20, Geneva-based UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said Monday, there had been 1,555 deaths in Nigeria from cholera recorded this year, with 38,173 cases reported. At last count in September, when local and federal officials in Nigeria assured the public the disease was under control, Nigeria’s Health Ministry said there were fewer than 800 dead and 13,000 people sickened.

According to the World Health Organization statistics, the current outbreak is the worst in Nigeria since 1991, when 7,654 people died.

Cholera is a fast-developing, highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration and possible death. The disease is easily preventable with clean water and sanitation, but in places like West Africa, sanitation often remains an afterthought in teeming city slums and mud-walled villages.

In Nigeria, almost half the country’s 150 million people lack access to clean water and proper sanitation, according to the WHO, even though the government earns billions of dollars a year as one of Africa’s top oil exporters.

 

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