No fewer than 653 persons have been confirmed dead by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) among a total of 27,186 suspected cholera cases detected in 23 states of the federation.
According to an epidemiological report by the NCDC that cholera cases have been reported in twenty-two states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The states are – Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Nasarawa, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Adamawa, Enugu, Katsina, Borno and FCT.
In the reporting week (July 19 to July 25, 2021), eight states reported 650 suspected cases: Bauchi (280), Jigawa (201), Kano (71), Zamfara (35), Enugu (30), Katsina (20), Borno (11) and Adamawa (2). Of this, there was no confirmed case reported. There were 7 deaths from Jigawa (4) and Zamfara (3) states with CFR 2.4 percent. The report further revealed that of the reporting cases since the beginning of the year, 27 percent are aged 5 to 14 years. Of all suspected cases, 51 percent are males and 49 percent are females.
Concerning what it is doing to curb the spread of the disease and manage cases identified, the NCDC stated that it has begun response activities in states, with response commodities. According to the Agency, “There is ongoing surveillance in all states through the routine integrated disease surveillance (IDRS) and response and event-based surveillance (EBS).” It is also advocating hygiene promotion, provision of safe water, water chlorination, household disinfection, sensitisation on dangers of open defecation ongoing in high-risk communities by WASH sector partners and community health volunteers in the affected states.
The NCDC said it has supported testing of samples received from Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Katsina, Enugu, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and the FCT at its National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Abuja. The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, in a statement said his Agency has activated an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC). “The EOC is co-led with the Federal Ministries of Environment and Water Resources, given the link between cholera and water, sanitation and hygiene.
