A SUSPECTED cholera outbreak has reportedly left eleven persons dead and six critically ill in the Apaogbozu community of Agila district in the Ado Local Government Area of Benue State.
The immediate past secretary of the Ado Local Government Council, Perpetual Okafor, told reporters in Makurdi on Monday, September 30, that the outbreak started four days earlier and got worse, with the number of deaths increasing daily.
Okafor reported that the crisis began with three people killed on the first day, followed by four more fatalities the next day and another four two days later.
She stated that six people who attended a church service had also fallen severely ill and were unable to leave the premises. He described the situation as dire.
Reacting to the incident, the Benue State Commissioner for Health, Yanmar Ortese, said health officials were assessing the outbreak.
He added that samples were being collected to confirm if the illness was cholera.
“At present, it is a suspected case, and our public health team is conducting surveillance in the area,” Ortese said.
The ICIR reported in July that at least 63 persons died as a result of cholera, and 2,102 suspected cases of the disease were recorded across 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
This was disclosed by the 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.
He said the centre would also see 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 contributors.
A reporter with the ICIR
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