The recent uproar about an outbreak of disease in Mpape, an Abuja suburb, which affected scores of residents and reportedly killed some, portrays the need for a sanitised environment and urgent government attention in the area. Though health authorities of the Bwari Area Council have been silent about the nature of the disease symbolised by diarrhoea and vomiting, residents are of the view that it is cholera.
The disease, which affected just a section of the community, Unguwar Rimi, not far from the Gwari village, was said to have been facilitated by a drainage turned into a refuse dump ground by the residents.
Abubakar Alhaji, who lost one of his brothers to the outbreak, admitted the unsanitary situation of the environment, adding that it might have contributed to the outbreak of the disease.
He attributed the inability of the residents to adequately dispose their refuse to lack of access roads for vehicles to evacuate the dirt. “Everybody at the community dumps refuse at that tree because there is no road, the absence of roads also stops government from doing something in the community,” he said.
The situation of the community leaves one to wonder if cholera is not probable in the community said Christian Ezeah, a resident.
According to him, residents indiscriminately dump their refuse in a water channel and around houses. They patronised water hawkers due to the absence of a functional borehole and the sanitation of the community is abysmally poor.
The main symptoms of the disease are watery stool and vomiting which result in dehydration. Transmission of the disease occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person.
The community, described as an urban slum, is made up of interlocked buildings with no provision for drainages and potable water source. A resident, who was seen dumping refuse at the drainage which has a make shift bridge, said the water channel has been the only place where residents dump their waste.
Abubakar Musa has been living in the community for about two years with his wife and two kids. He said he would do everything to ensure their safety apart from moving out of Mpape due to his inability to secure a better place. As such, his family drinks sachet water while he ensures that antiseptic is applied in their bathing water.
He said: “The outbreak of cholera in the community is real, I do not know why the government is trying to give it another name, what could have been killing people at such rate all of a sudden. How can you be vomiting and stooling and passed it on to another person if not cholera?”
Though he and members of his family were not affected, he said “there was a man, he is gentle and usually greets whenever he passes by, I was sad when I learnt about his death to this sudden illness.”
As a means of curbing the spread of the disease, health and environment authorities of the Bwari Area Council engaged in mass sensitisation about the causes and prevention of cholera, the council shared water guard, antiseptic soaps and other needed items for the protection of the residents.
The government also instituted a free medical treatment for anybody infected with the illness. Infected people were told to report at the community primary healthcare centre for free treatment.
Bello Buba was among the few residents that benefitted from the government largesse, he said that his daughter who was infected received free treatment at the healthcare centre in the community.
Sa’aidu Saliu was, however, not lucky. He accused the government of bringing few items that cannot go round the residents. Saliu said he is aware of the free treatment but likened it to scratching the surface, calling for a lasting solution to the problem.
He queried: “The free treatment and items distributed is good but would that stop the disease from coming back?”
Saliu said that government needs to address indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainages and provide of potable water and access roads.
“Government in Nigeria only act when there is a problem, as soon as the disease is controlled, nobody will hear about the government anymore,” he said.
According to the Head, Health Department of the Bwari Area Council, Dr. Goji Sunday, the department when alerted by the Chief about the disease quickly mobilised its medical team to the community, saying five patients of diarrhea and vomiting were discovered and taken to the health centre.
He said: “They were admitted and treatment started. They were not very serious cases so the patients were discharged the next day. We also had two new cases that were reported, which were also treated and they were discharged. As I said, we did a rapid diagnostic test on the five people initially admitted and two of them had signs that it might be cholera.
“As I’m speaking to you, we have mobilised our teams to the community, visited the chief and sensitised them on what to do and the need to maintain a higher personal hygiene.
Sunday described the community as urban slum, saying: “Structures are not properly planned, no good drainages, so you might have these factors that will encourage this outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea. Therefore, we are currently sensitising the community, the council has provided drugs, free treatment of people that might be affected, and we encourage the community, if there are those cases, they should bring them to the health facility and not keep them at home.
“The casualty figures are varying and we can’t really ascertain yet. It is just based on the report we have from the community, they said the first patient that reported here was on Saturday and the team that saw the patient treated him and referred the patient to Maitama General Hospital. It was unfortunate, the patient went back home and never went to the hospital, I think that patient eventually passed away.”
He added that there are reports that two other people passed away but cannot independently confirmed, saying the community has invited some journalists and even took them to the graveyard.
Abubakar Alhaji was at the cemetery burying one of the dead when he got a call about the death of his brother. He said about three Nigeriens were also infected whom he heard later died on their way to Niger.
He added: “The Nigeriens used to sleep on the mountain here, they were without accommodation and they worked for three months before returning to their country during the farming season.
“Two of the Nigeriens were infected but they chose to use concocted herbs instead of going to the hospital because of lack of fund. Nobody knew it was cholera, they took drugs from chemists without changes, and they were advised to go to Niger. Before they got to Katsina, one died while the other two were not allowed into their country, they finally died at the border.
“After the incident, my brother got ill, I thought it was malaria so he went to the chemist where he was given anti-malaria treatment, including three drips of water intravenously before he was discharged around 2.30 a.m. But in the morning, it started again and before I got back from the market, his temperature was high and he had diarrhea and vomiting. In the night, he was taken back to the chemist and drips were administered again.
“The first person that got infected later died and I was at the burial ground when I received the call about my brother’s death. One old man, Jaba, who stayed down the street, also died after showing similar symptoms.”
Abubakar said the residents used to buy water from a borehole sank by an individual due to the long distance to the one sank by the government, adding that “because of N20, you would not want to trek the long distance.”
According to Adetunji Olayinka, ignorance about the disease led to the death of the residents. Many of the residents, he added, took the disease for common malaria and patronised chemist, instead of hospital.
Efforts by our reporter to hear from the community head of Mpape were unsuccessful but the Disease Control Officer of the Bwari Area Council, Dr. Benson Udu, said the situation was brought under controlled.
He said that “we only get reports of one or two cases which are treated and made to return home.”
The Bwari Area Council health authorities have not released the result of the clinical test sent to University of Abuja Teaching Hospital at Gwagwalada to ascertain the nature of the disease as at the time of this report.
Bwari council chairman, Peter Yoahanna Ushafa, assured that the council has taken necessary step to arrest the situation and as well prevent future occurrence.
