The multi-sectorial emergency response to a cholera outbreak in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Borno State, Nigeria, 2017
BMJ Global Health·
- DOI
- 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002000
- PMID
- 32133173
- PMCID
- PMC7042583
- OpenAlex
- W3004218817
- Study type
- Outbreak investigation
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Publication version
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Open linked preprint →Why this research matters now
The study highlights operational and sociocultural factors that shaped an outbreak response in a complex humanitarian setting, including coordination, risk communication, community engagement, and integration with vaccination platforms.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
A qualitative evaluation of stakeholder perspectives on the multi-sectoral emergency response to a 2017 cholera outbreak in internally displaced persons camps in Borno State, Nigeria.
Study design
Qualitative study using key informant interviews, focus group discussions (n=39), and document review (n=21) with thematic analysis.
Population and setting
Respondents and documents related to the August 2017 cholera outbreak that began in Muna Garage internally displaced persons camp and spread across six local government areas in Borno State, Nigeria, with over 5,000 cases.
Main findings
Outbreak declaration was delayed by about 12 days pending culture confirmation. Multiple transmission channels were identified, and a leaking latrine near index cases was not repaired for over 7 days. Initial chlorine use faced community resistance due to rumours of sterilisation. Health messages were initially delivered in Hausa rather than the local Kanuri language. Approximately one million people received oral cholera vaccine, with distribution aided by existing polio vaccination infrastructure, though initial reluctance was reported. Coordination was initially slow but improved after an emergency operations centre activated an incident management system.
Public-health relevance
The study highlights operational and sociocultural factors that shaped an outbreak response in a complex humanitarian setting, including coordination, risk communication, community engagement, and integration with vaccination platforms.
Important limitations
The abstract does not state explicit limitations of the qualitative evaluation. This summary is therefore limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata and would require review of the original paper for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
Within GIDS, this article is discoverable under cholera, Nigeria, outbreak investigation, surveillance, transmission dynamics, treatment, and vaccination, providing qualitative context on multi-sectoral outbreak response in displacement-camp settings.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 12 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.