The Borno State Government has announced the outbreak of cholera, an extremely serious disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea with severe dehydration.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Prof Baba Mallam Gana made the announcement at a press briefing in Maiduguri on Friday.
Cholera is caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It spreads also through contaminated food or water and affects both children and adults and can kill within hours if untreated.
The cholera outbreak in Borno is coming in light of the devastating flood disaster that struck Maiduguri metropolis and other surrounding local government areas (LGAs) recently.
Although no death has been recorded, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services at the press briefing said out of the two hundred samples sent for testing, seventeen returned positive.
Prof Gana attributed the outbreak to the recent flood disaster that ravaged parts of the State with Jere, Mafa, Konduga, Dikwa and MMC LGA making up the seventeen confirmed cholera cases.
The State Government has, therefore, declared immediate response to control the outbreak as partners and humanitarian agencies like the WHO, MSF have put in place facilities to handle the suspected cases.
The Commissioner also noted that about four hundred thousand vaccines have been made available.
Cholera outbreak: 287,708 people vaccinated
Meanwhile, Gana at the press briefing to officially declare the cholera outbreak in the State, revealed that no fewer than 287,708 people have been vaccinated against the disease.
Gana said that the immunisation that started on September 25 was 96 per cent successful. The commissioner added that the proactive measures taken by the state and other stakeholders were responsible for the zero mortality recorded.
“So far, no death was recorded out of the 17 confirmed cases from the most affected local government areas of Maiduguri, Jere, Mafa, Konduga, and Monguno. The state had received 300,000 doses of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV) from the Federal Ministry of Health, which were distributed to displaced persons camps and flood-affected communities.
“The state is still expecting an additional 600,000 doses of OCV. However, we are still recording an increasing number of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD), which is not unconnected with the flood devastation,” he said.
The commissioner urged for precautionary measures by the public, particularly in areas of hygiene and sanitation. He charged the media to partner with the government in providing adequate awareness and preventive measures to the public.