AT least 63 persons have died as a result of cholera and 2,102 suspected cases of the disease have been recorded across 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
This was disclosed by Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Jide Idris, on Tuesday, July 2.
He said the top ten contributing states are Lagos, Bayelsa, Abia, Zamfara, Bauchi, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Rivers and Delta.
Idris also said cholera had spread to 122 local government areas as of June 30 and there had been a fatality rate of three per cent since the beginning of 2024.
He further stated that the NCDC had activated the National Cholera Multisectoral Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to better respond to suspected cases nationwide.
“In response to the rapidly increasing cholera cases, a dynamic risk assessment was conducted by subject matter experts on the cholera outbreak situation in Nigeria last week.
“The subject matter experts were drawn from relevant ministries (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Water Resources, etc.), departments, agencies, stakeholders, and major partners. The outcome of the risk assessment placed the country at ‘high risk’ of increased risk of cholera transmission and impact,” he said.
The centre will also see to the effective mobilisation and distribution of resources to affected areas.
Speaking on the cause of the spread, Idris identified open defecation and poor sanitation as major issues.
Weak regulation on the construction of soak-away and boreholes (some sunk close to a water source and boreholes sunk in the wrong location), inadequate implementation and enforcement of public nuisance law and other relevant public health laws are some other challenges,” he said.
The director-general also said that inadequate knowledge and practice of basic hygiene and some other issues were hindering efforts to contain the outbreak.
As Nigeria struggles with the latest cholera outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that there was an increase in the spread of cholera, globally.
The highest number of cases was recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, followed by the African, American, South-East Asian, and European regions.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.