THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Nigeria has recorded 1,336 suspected cases of cholera disease in 2023.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with vibrio cholerae bacteria.
NCDC released its latest cholera disease situation report which covered all the suspected cases recorded between March 6 and April 2, on Monday, April 18.
The Centre said 12 of the 36 states and the Feeder Capital Territory (FCT) had recorded suspected cholera cases in 2023.
The suspected cases were recorded in Abia, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Sokoto and Zamfara.
NCDC also disclosed that 79 persons have died from suspected cases of cholera across 12 state in 2023.
“As of 2nd April 2023, a total of 1336 suspected cases including 79 deaths (CFR 5.9%) have been reported from 12 states,” the NCDC said.
It added that 53 per cent of suspected cases involve males while the remaining 47 females were females.
According to the NCDC, the suspected cases of cholera were prevalent among people between the age of 15 to 24 and individuals above 45 years of age.
“Of the suspected cases since the beginning of the year, age groups 15-24 and >45 years is the most affected age groups for males and females respectively.
“Six states – Cross River (647 cases), Ebonyi (97 cases), Abia (72 cases), Niger (38 cases) and Zamfara (28 cases) account for 96% of all cumulative cases.
“Fifteen local government areas across nine states Ebonyi (4), Cross River (3), Ondo (2), Bayelsa (1), Abia (1), Katsina (1), Sokoto (1) Niger (1) and Zamfara (1), reported more than five cases each this year.”
Meanwhile, The ICIR reported that, earlier in January, residents of Obubura community in Cross River State cried out for the state government’s assistance following a cholera outbreak that claimed over 60 lives in the area.
The traditional ruler of the community called on the government to intercede by providing them with potable drinking water to avoid another outbreak.
The ICIR also reported that the NCDC disclosed that 233 deaths were recorded from a total of 10,217 suspected cases of cholera in 31 states between January and October 2022.
Lack of potable water is a major factor in the outbreak of cholera and an investigation published by The ICIR in 2021 revealed that several communities in the satellite areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are experiencing challenges relating to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
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