Cholera has claimed 2,141 lives in 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)) since the beginning of this year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said.
A situation report released by the centre Monday also said a total of 65,145 suspected cases were recorded within the period under review.
The disease has continued to ravage states with many cases and deaths recorded in the last one week.
The affected states are putting measures in place to curb the outbreak, Daily Trust reports.
Kano records 10,343 suspected cases
In Kano, the state government has confirmed that it had recorded 10,343 suspected cases as of September 5 since the outbreak of the disease this year across its 44 local government areas.
It said 9,935 cases have been treated and discharged while 153 cases are presently active in 11 LGAs with over 200 fatalities.
The state epidemiologist, Dr Basheer Lawan, told Daily Trust that like every other outbreak, the government was addressing the cholera outbreak through the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) situated at the Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital in the state metropolis.
Death toll rises to 150 in Katsina
Authorities in Katsina State have confirmed that the death toll from the cholera outbreak in the state has risen to over 150, with a total of 5,677 confirmed cases recorded in 33 out of the 34 LGAs of the state.
The Executive Secretary of the state’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Shamsudeen Yahaya, said the government was taking proactive measures to prevent further spread of the disease.
The figure seems to have doubled from the last briefing held on August 10, where the death toll was put at 75 while confirmed cases stood at 1,534 across 25 local government areas.
Cholera still ravaging Kaduna
Cholera is still ravaging communities across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State as hospitals still receive patients.
It was gathered that from April to August this year, about 132 people across 19 out of the 23 LGAs in the state were affected.
Our correspondent gathered that within the period, 1,665 cholera cases were recorded and 842 people treated and discharged.
A health worker, Usman Ibrahim, at Rafinguza told Daily Trust that his hospital received two to three cholera patients in a week.
He said even though the number of cases has reduced, they still received patients, an indication that the disease was still within communities.
A medical doctor at Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI) hospital in Tudun Wada, Dr Ibrahim Isma’il, said cholera patients from Danmani, Rigasa and Tudun Wada communities were brought to the hospital for treatment.
Low fatalities in Bayelsa, Osun
Twenty-five persons were killed due to cholera outbreak in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State between February and April. Three persons also died of the disease in Ede, Osun State.
There have also been reported outbreaks in Amachi-Igwebuike village of Agba in Ishielu Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, and Billie community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, among others.
Director of Public Health in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health, Dr Jones Stowe, said the state has contained the cholera outbreak, and there is no active case at the moment.
He said: “Between February and May, we had cases in Bayelsa State, but they have since been handled appropriately.
“We have contained all our cases; so, the recent report by NCDC about states with cases of cholera outbreak is just the cases we had earlier, which have been handled.
The Sarki Hausa of Ede, Gambo Ibrahim, confirmed that six persons were hospitalised after showing symptoms of cholera.
“Three died while others survived. They were said to have eaten contaminated food,” he said.
Daily Trust learnt that the cholera outbreak in Rivers was as a result contaminated water as Billie community’s only source of drinking water was from the creek where residents also defecate.
The Edo State Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Harrison Omorka, who spoke to our correspondent, said the state has not witnessed any cholera outbreak but was ready to confront any eventuality.
Lagos to arrest anyone defecating in open places
Lagos State government has urged residents not to wait until the state records cholera outbreak before taking preventive measures.
The government also warned that the state environmental police, which are also known as the Task Force Against Open Defecation, have been empowered to step up their monitoring activities and apprehend anyone caught defecating in open places.
The state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, appealed to members of the public to own the process by ensuring that proper toilet facilities are provided in residences, and when outdoors, public toilets or mobile toilets must be used.
Ebonyi seals defaulting houses
The Ebonyi State government said it is intensifying its waste evacuation system aimed at ensuring a cleaner environment that will safeguard the health of residents.
The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Dr Richard Nnabu, announced that some residential homes in the capital, Abakaliki, were being sealed for alleged poor environmental conditions of the houses. He warned the general public against flouting environmental laws.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike, affirmed that the state has not recorded any case recently.
Cases reducing in Plateau
The Chairman, Plateau State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Daniel Lipstick, said the state has so far recorded 28 deaths and 1415 cases since the outbreak of the disease between May and June but that the cases were very rare between June and date.
On July 22, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Nimkong Lar, told Daily Trust that, “The reduction in the number of cases and deaths followed the intervention of government where health personnel were engaged to visit villages and towns to sensitise people on the disease. We are equally visiting communities to create awareness among the people. So, the disease has been tackled so far.”
No case in Benue
Benue State’s epidemiologist, Sam Ngishe, said there was no case of cholera in the state as even the suspected case in the past one month turned out negative.
Ngishe said the state however experienced an outbreak between December, 2020 and February this year, a situation, he said, was quickly brought under control.
Similarly, the state’s Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Dr Joseph Ngbea, told our correspondent by telephone that no single case had been reported since the outbreak of the disease across states of the federation.
Our correspondent reports that in previous years, cholera outbreaks were prevalent in Wadata suburb of Makurdi and some other rural communities in the state.
By Ojoma Akor (Abuja), Risikat Ramoni (Lagos), Hameed Oyegbade (Osogbo), Victor Edozie (Port Harcourt), Bassey Willie (Yenagoa), Nabob Ogbonna (Abakaliki), Usman A. Bello (Benin), Ado Abubakar Musa (Jos), Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi), Muhammad Ibrahim Yaba (Kaduna), Clement A. Oloyede (Kano) & Tijjani Ibrahim (Katsina)
