​Cholera fear in world’s biggest refugee camp

Kenya's cholera epidemic has reached the world's largest refugee camp and doctors worry the outbreak could continue to spread.

Seven people have died in Dadaab, in northern Kenya near the border with Somalia, since the outbreak was declared in November, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, said in a statement.

In the last three weeks, more than 300 patients have been admitted to treatment centers, and 30% of those patients were children under 12, according to MSF.

"We are still trying to control the spread," UNHCR spokesman in Kenya Duke Mwancha told CNN on Saturday. UNHCR is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Lack of proper sanitation and education of the population are among the main challenges in halting infections, Mwancha said. There are are not enough pit latrines in the camp for the size of its population, and people often allow their children play in the mud or in floodwater, he said.

Author: 
CNN