CHAD
AID GROUPS SUSPEND WORK OVER INSECURITY
Six aid organizations have suspended operations following a series of attacks in late September in Bol and Baga-Sola areas of the western Lac region. Thirteen people were killed and five kidnapped in seven separate attacks.
The assailants also stole cattle and other property. The surge in attacks is likely to further restrict humanitarian access. The Multinational Joint Task Force is reinforcing presence to counter the armed raiders.
DR CONGO
UNHCR URGES ORDER OVER MASS RETURNS
UNHCR on 16 October appealed to the Angola and DRC Governments for safe and orderly population movement after Angola issued an expulsion order that has triggered massive return of Congolese nationals in recent weeks.
Some 282,400 Congolese have returned, according to Government estimates. Around 75 per cent of them have settled in Kasai province and others in communities near the border. The Congolese had been working in informal mines in north-east Angola. Without collaboration, the mass exodus could spark a new crisis in the conflict-hit Kasai region, the refugee agency warned.
MEASLES INFECTS OVER 800, KILLS 13
Health authorities in the southern Haut-Katanga province recorded 855 measles cases and 13 deaths since the start of October. Nearly 80 per cent of those infected are children younger than five years. Vaccination is underway in the mostaffected Kilwa and Pweto health zones.
NIGER
CHOLERA OUTBREAK DECLINING
Cholera infections are dropping since the peak of the outbreak in mid-September, WHO reported on 12 October. As of 6 October, 38 suspected cases and five deaths were recorded compared to 344 and seven deaths as of 21 September. Since the beginning of the outbreak in July, 3,747 cases and 72 deaths were reported by 10 October.
Infections are still being reported in seven health districts. Maradi region in the south is the most affected.
NIGERIA
FLOOD DISASTER IN FIVE MORE STATES
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on 11 October extended the state of national disaster to five more states:
Adamawa, Taraba, Bayelsa, Kebbi and Rivers. Heavy floods since August have claimed around 200 lives and displaced more than 600,000 people (210,000 living in camps and 391,000 in host communities). NEMA on 17 September declared a state of national disaster in f Niger, Delta, Kogi and Anambra states and placed eight others on alert.
Humanitarian organizations are supporting the authorities in assisting the flood victims.
SENEGAL
DENGUE FEVER ERUPTS IN FOUR REGIONS
On 18 October, 46 confirmed dengue fever cases and one death were reported in four regions of Senegal. The south-western Fatick region is the most affected with 67 per cent of confirmed cases. Since the outbreak was detected on 19 September, 1,148 suspected cases have been reported. The National Epidemic Management Committee is coordinating response. Rapid response teams have been set up in each affected district to detect cases, provide health information and carry out vector control. The last dengue fever outbreak in late 2017 infected 138 people in four regions.