Doctors Without Borders is raising an alarm about an almost 100% increase in the amount of malaria cases within a region of Chad.

DWB says the number of people coming into clinics for consultations who have malaria is running around 80% when the usual number for this time of year is less than 40%.

“It is now the top illness diagnosed in our clinics and that is unusual for this area,” Dr. Turid Piening told the BBC.

Malaria is the number one killer in Chad with 1 in every 4 deaths attributed to the disease. It is the most common cause of death for children.

Dr. Piening says that the people of the region tend to be nomadic and that makes it difficult for them to get life saving medicine. Also, most of the people are too poor to afford mosquito nets which can stop 60% of transmission.

“They sleep in the open or in little huts so they are very vulnerable,” he says.