About 429 suspected cases of cholera, including 17 deaths, have been recorded in 2023 in the country, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed.
Cases from about 11 states across 24 local government areas were reported by NCDC in its latest Cholera epidemiological report for week four (January 2-29) posted on its official website.
As of January 29, 2023, the statement explained that a total of 429 suspected cases, including 17 deaths (CFR 4.0 per cent) had been reported from 11 states.
It explained, “Of the suspected cases since the beginning of the year, the age group 0- 5 years is the most affected age group for males and females.”
Of all suspected cases, according to the statement, 51 percent are males and 49 percent are females. Six states – Cross River (242 cases), Ebonyi (86 cases), Niger (38 cases), Abia (35 cases), and Ondo (10 cases) account for 96% of all cumulative cases.
The statement further explained that more than five cases of the disease were reported this year in 15 LGAs across nine states, Ebonyi (4), Cross River (3), Ondo (2), Bayelsa (1), Abia (1), Katsina (1), Sokoto (1) Niger (1) and Zamfara (1).
For management of patients, the agency lamented the difficulty in accessing some communities due to security concerns, open defecation in affected communities, lack of potable drinking water in some rural areas and urban slums, poor hygiene practices in most cholera-affected communities and inadequate health facility infrastructure and cholera commodities.
In curbing the spread of the disease, it explained that it would continue training on cholera surveillance and hotspot mapping and develop state-level preparedness and response plans