Cholera Claims 20 Lives

The Federal Ministry of Health has said that 20 people died of cholera, while 149 cases were reported in an outbreak in Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Niger states this year.

The Chief Epidemiologist in the ministry, Dr Henry Akpan told newsmen that although some states recorded outbreaks early this year, fatality rate had been curtailed through prompt interventions.

He said that government had also assisted states which were ravaged by cholera in 2010 with drugs and water treatment chemicals.

“So far, I will say that with the cholera situation, we are not having any issues’’, he said.

He explained that consumption of potable water supply remained a remedy to cholera and called on states and local government areas to ensure provision of quality water for drinking.

“What we are saying is that most of those states and local government officials should try and provide their people with better source of potable water, apart from also providing safe disposal for faeces

“We can also get the community and the people themselves to be on top of the situation by just showing improved, simple personal hygiene.

“They should stop open defecations and once we have those simple things adhered to by the community, then we can also avoid the outbreak of cholera’’, he said.

Our correspondent  recalls that 1,838 cholera-related deaths, and 46,703 cases were recorded in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory in 2010,

The affected states were Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Cross River, Kaduna, Rivers, Kebbi, Anambra, Bayelsa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Osun, Kogi and Abia.