Lara Adejoro and Bankole Taiwo
Lagos State’s Health Commissioner, Professor Akin Abayomi, announced on Sunday that Kirikiri Medium Security Prison reported 25 severe gastroenteritis cases confirmed as cholera.
The Nigerian Correctional Service’s assertion on Wednesday,
June 26, 2024, that all custodial facilities nationwide were free of cholera
was contradicted by the development.
The NCoS spokesperson, Abubakar Umar, explained to The PUNCH
that the routine hygienic measures implemented in the correctional facilities
have been effective in preventing the outbreak of cholera.
In a statement released on Sunday by the Director of Public
Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, the commissioner
reported a limited outbreak of 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis confirmed to
be caused by cholera.”
Urgent medical and environmental measures have been
successfully implemented, as per our records, he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and
Prevention also recorded 118 suspected cholera cases in Katsina State.
Available data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention showed as of June 24, 2024, there were 1,528 suspected cholera
cases, 65 confirmed cases and 53 deaths across 107 local government areas in 31
states, reflecting a case fatality rate of 3.5 per cent since the beginning of
the year.
The most affected states were Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross
River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa and Lagos.
To combat the spread, President Bola Tinubu approved the
establishment of a multi-sectoral cabinet committee on the control of the
epidemic, headed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare,
Prof. Ali Pate.
Speaking on the Lagos outbreak, Abayomi, at the update on
the cholera outbreak at the weekend, said no new cholera-related deaths had
been reported in the last 72 hours, as the government kept intensifying
countermeasures to eliminate transmission.
He confirmed ongoing low-grade community transmission, as
the new daily cases and deaths reduced.
He, however, noted that interventions were bearing dividends
as residents were adhering to public health information and advice on safety
measures and the need for early presentation to health facilities when symptoms
developed.
On the Kirikiri incident, Abayomi said, “We supplied
Kirikiri medium prison with intravenous fluids, infection prevention, and other
health consumables.
“Additionally, the World Health Organisation donated 10,000
doses of pharmaceuticals already delivered to the prison to support prison
health facilities with prevention strategies for about 3,200 inmates if
required.
“Immediate water and sanitation issues have been corrected
and there are ongoing inspections of other correctional facilities in the
state.”
Addressing the source of the original outbreak two weeks
ago, Abayomi said it had been traced to unregulated street beverages and
contaminated water supply.
He said many samples taken from popular street beverages
purchased by undercover environmental officers from the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Ministry of Health in the affected areas confirmed
the presence of vibrio cholera bacteria, which is the cause of cholera.
“All the containers had no NAFDAC accreditation numbers,
indicating they are small cottage backyard informal production units.
“Identifying the precise location of manufacture has proven
difficult and the directorate of environmental health is planning to seal any
such unregulated manufacture and make arrests of anybody involved with the
manufacture or distribution of beverages without NAFDAC numbers,” Abayomi said.
The commissioner said there was no need for the public to
panic and expressed optimism that with continued collaboration, vigilance, and
commitment from all stakeholders, the state was taking decisive actions to
combat and control cholera.
In Katsina, the Director of Epidemiology at Katsina State
Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Kabir Suleiman, said the 118
suspected cases returned negative.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, he said, “Based on
our records, around March this year, we had a cholera outbreak in Kusada Local
Government Area. There were 68 suspected cases, where we had two confirmed
cases with one death.
“The situation was effectively managed by the government,
together with the development partners,” he said.
Suleiman added that recently, about 118 suspected cholera
samples were taken for laboratory tests.
According to him, all the cases were negative, adding, “So,
for now, we don’t have new cholera cases. But the state is fully prepared for
any emergency.
“We can coordinate any outbreak that can affect the state at
any time.”
The director said the state, together with some of the
development partners, had the required equipment to fight the disease.
“We have all the needed equipment to treat such outbreaks.
We have maintained our system at alert. The Rapid Response Teams, including
surveillance and notification officers, have already been trained in the proper
detection and management of such diseases.
“In terms of prevention and control, we are taking measures
to curtail the spread of the disease to other places in the state,” he said.
Suleiman also said the government had established ‘Oral
Rehydration Points’ at the 34 comprehensive health centres for admission and
treatment of cholera cases.
“We also have a normal routine surveillance system working
throughout the day to take care of emergencies like cholera,” he said.
In Kaduna, the State Primary Health Care Board said that
there was no reported case of cholera in the state.
The Incident Manager of the board, Dr Abdullahi Musa, in an
interview with the NAN, said the state was alert and prepared in the advent of
any emergency.
Musa, who doubles as the board’s Disease Surveillance and
Notification Officer, said the state had reactivated its rapid response team
comprising experts capable of responding to any outbreak or public health
emergency.
He equally said the state had identified some selected
facilities that could diagnose cholera cases, adding that the government was
also supporting water purification by procuring chlorine for use at water
sources.
There is no reported case of cholera in Kano State, against
the listing of the state among states battling the epidemic by the NCDC.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, while
fielding questions from newsmen in Kano, said findings so far revealed there
was no cholera outbreak in the state.
“We don’t have a single case as of now. We have seen some
reports in the media but we can categorically tell you that there is none,” he
said.
The commissioner explained that the state government had
unveiled proactive measures to safeguard the people against the outbreak in the
state.
Labaran said, “As a government, we have taken necessary
measures, including alerting our Emergency Preparedness Response committee two
weeks ago when the disease broke out in Lagos.
“The committee, comprising health practitioners,
surveillance and notification officers, health educators, and ward volunteers,
is tasked with reporting any strange disease or pandemic and taking prompt
measures to halt its spread.
“The state has launched a sensitisation campaign to educate
people, particularly in rural areas, on how to protect themselves.
“We have launched public campaigns to raise awareness and
promote proactive measures within communities, focusing on personal and
environmental hygiene, and avoiding the consumption of unsafe water.”
Similarly, the Director-General, Kano State Centre for
Disease Control, Prof. Muhammad Abbas, called on the people to take cholera
with the seriousness it deserves due to its fatal consequences in society.
The NCDC has, however, said improper refuse disposal and
open defecation practices are endangering the quality of water sources used for
drinking and personal use.
It expressed concern over the growing threat to water safety
in the country, which triggers outbreaks of water-borne diseases, including
cholera.
The Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, in an interview with
NAN, on Sunday, urged Nigerians to adopt safe sanitation practices.
He also called on state governments to enforce stricter
waste management regulations, saying “unsafe practices lead to contamination of
water bodies.”
He therefore advised, “We must take responsibility to ensure
the safety of our water. Proper waste disposal and elimination of open
defecation are crucial in this direction.
“There is also the need for public education and awareness
about the importance of hygiene and proper sanitation practices amid rising
concerns about the spread of diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which thrive
in unsanitary conditions.”
He explained that as the rainy season sets in, the risk of
water contamination may be heightened, hence the need for communities to take
immediate action.
The Ogun State Waste Management Authority also appealed to
residents of the state to start putting their wastes in containers, saying that
such healthy habits would help to curb the spread of diseases like cholera,
among others.
The Managing Director of OGWAMA, Abayomi Hunye, appealed
while inspecting the ongoing rehabilitation work at the Kurata Dumpsite in Ota,
Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government area of the state.
Hunye, according to a statement on Sunday, said
containerising waste by residents would make refuse collection and disposal
easy.
He also said it would help prevent the contamination of the
environment and the spread of contagious diseases.
Hunye called on those living in areas where wastes had been
left open to avoid drinking well, boreholes as well as sachet water, as some of
them might not be fit for human consumption.