Epidemic: Cholera killes over 80 in 7 states within 2 months

 

OVER 100 persons are feared affected and 80 dead from  outbreak of cholera in Lagos, Oyo and six other states, following the outbreak of the disease in different parts of the country in recent times.

Reports from different parts of the country indicated that the disease had been on the rise across the country in the last two months.

Earlier in July, five people had been reported dead after being infected by

the disease in Ogun State.

After the incident, it reopened in Oyo, precisely in Egbeda Local Government Area of the state, last month, with eight people reported dead and 12 others hospitalised.

In Plateau State, nine people died of the disease, which also infected 86 others in Namu village, among the over 7,000 refugees who fled to the state from the Ombatse cult onslaught in Nasarawa State.

The disease also infected 536 people and killed 46 in Zamfara State recently.

It had earlier spread to Sokoto State, killing five people out of the nine infected by the disease in Tambuwal Local Government Area in October. The victims were all aged between 27 and 30.

This week, the disease returned to the South-West, specifically in Lagos, as it reportedly killed three people as of Wednesday.

Cholera, a highly contagious intestinal infection, is reportedly transmitted by water and food soiled by human waste. The disease leads to diarrhea, dehydration and death, if untreated.
Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, speaking through Mr Dan Nwomeh, his special assistant on media and communication, had directed the National Centre for Disease Control to swing into action in state affected by the disease.

While teams had been sent to the affected states to contain the outbreak, the minister said the conditions that often led to the outbreak of cholera were not really within the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Health, but that of the affected states and other federal agencies.
Agency reports claimed Nigeria often suffered cholera epidemics during the rainy season, mentioning incidents of 2010 and 2011 in which over 2,000 people were killed.

Culled from Tribune.com