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MSF has been responding since early 2017 to a hepatitis E outbreak in Diffa, Niger, where over 247,000 people are displaced owing to conflict in the region.
While hepatitis E is not fatal in most cases, the disease can kill pregnant women, posing a fatal risk to their unborn babies, and is also extremely dangerous for women who have recently given birth. If caught at an early stage it is easily treatable.
Since the Ministry of Health declared the outbreak in mid-April, MSF has been working in partnership with the Ministry, other humanitarian organisations and local communities to identify and treat cases at an early stage to prevent fatalities.
As a result, both the case fatality rate and the spread of the disease have significantly reduced amongst the affected population. We have now treated over 1,700 people in the Diffa region and trained more than 203,000 people with health promotion activities since the beginning of the outbreak.
Find out more about MSF's work in Niger.