Since the last report on the Niger meningitis outbreak in the end of April, the case tally in the west African nation has doubled while the death toll has increased by 100.

Niger/CIA
Niger/CIA

African media accounts state that Niger’s epidemics surveillance and response director Goumbi Kadade said, “As of May 3, 252 people died out of a total of 3,304 cases.” The situation is made even worse with reports of shortages of meningitis vaccines in the country.

“The number of cases has risen in the past three weeks. This worries us, because there aren’t enough vaccines. Our orders are arriving in dribs and drabs,” Kadade added.

Niger as a country is currently under quarantine in an effort to contain the deadly disease.

Neighboring Nigeria is also battling an outbreak of the disease. It was recently reported that Nigeria’s case tally stood at 1380 cases, including 83 deaths as of 5 April 2015, according to the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria.

Like Niger, the bulk of the cases are Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C.