Ondo prepared to prevent, combat cholera outbreak

Following the outbreak of cholera in some states, the Ondo State Government has explained measures it has taken to curb the spread of the disease in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Banji Ajaka, said on Monday that the state has activated its surveillance for immediate response to any case of cholera in the state.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), there were 65 confirmed cholera cases with 30 deaths from 1 January to 11 June across 96 LGAs in 30 states of the country.

The alarm was again raised in the South-west region when Lagos State reported an outbreak with 60 hospital admissions and five deaths.

The NCDC stated that a total of 1,141 suspected cases have been recorded this year. Ten states contributed 90 per cent of the total number.

The states are Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa and Lagos.

Mr Ajaka noted that two cases were reported at Okitipupa Local Government Area early in the year, adding that the case was curtailed by the Rapid Response team of the state

He said the state had strengthened the Rapid Response Team, which includes Primary Health Centre (PHC) coordinators, lab focal persons, and Disease Surveillance officers in the three senatorial districts of the state through the COPREP programme.

“The surveillance team was also strengthened by the COPREP programme with community informants/ contact tracers trained and placed on stipends for eight months. They, however, would be deployed for active case search in preparation for the cholera outbreak,” he said.

He further explained that an emergency preparedness committee would be put in place to work on issues such as the provision of potable water, sanitation, and strengthening of the health institutions and other relevant sectors, which would be a collaborative effort between all the agencies in the health sector and other MDAs such as Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Information, Water Resources and the waste management agency.

The commissioner added that an incident management system would be set up through the EOC, facilitating case detection, isolation and treatment of cases, including complications.

Mr Ajaka promised that the government would play its part by sensitising and creating awareness in the mass media and also through community engagement.

He appealed to citizens to maintain a high level of personal and food hygiene and report promptly to the hospital in case of diarrhoea and vomiting.

Cholera is a highly contagious food and water-borne disease. It spreads through direct transmission by eating or drinking contaminated food or water and indirect transmission due to poor sanitation and lack of hand washing.

Symptoms of cholera include acute, painless, watery diarrhoea of sudden onset, with or without vomiting. It may be associated with nausea, profuse vomiting and fever.

Severe cases can lead to death within hours due to dehydration. However, about 80 per cent of people may only show mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all.