Nigeria : Cholera Outbreak – DREF Operation (MDRNG046)

Country: Nigeria Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Please refer to the attached file. Description of the Event Date when the trigger was met 15-07-2026 What happened, where and when? The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the Borno State Ministry of Health have been responding to the outbreak since the first cases were reported on 1 May 2026. The outbreak escalated rapidly from Epidemiological Weeks 21–22, with cases increasing significantly during the onset of the rainy season. By Epidemiological Week 29, national cumulative suspected cases had increased to 44, 129, with Borno State remaining the epicentre of the outbreak with more than 97 per cent of all reported cases and more than 99 per cent of weekly reported cases. 20 LGAs affected out of 27 withing the state. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Borno State Ministry of Health and humanitarian actors like Nigeria Red Cross have been responding to this outbreak in Borno since May 2026, but significant response gaps remain in several affected communities due to limited funding and insufficient partner presence. With the trend of the outbreak just at the onset of the worst transmission period, there is an urge to scale-up interventions. On 15 July 2026, acknowledging the support from NRCS in Maiduguri and Jere LGAs, the Borno State Primary Health Care Development Board formally requested the NRCS to sustain and expand its response to underserved cholera-affected LGAs through strengthened Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), Oral Rehydration Point (ORP) services, active case finding, referral mechanisms, hygiene promotion and community-based surveillance. The outbreak remains ongoing, with NCDC reporting increasing trends in key hotspot LGAs, particularly Monguno and Kukawa. Sustained and scaled-up interventions are therefore required to reduce transmission, improve early treatment- health seeking behaviour, prevent cholera-related morbidity and mortalities and support the government’s efforts to contain the outbreak before the peak of the rainy season.

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