Cholera Kills Eight, Infects 129 in Kogi

Ibrahim Oyewale

No fewer than eight persons have been reportedly dead, while 129 others were seriously infected in several communities following the outbreak of cholera disease in five local government areas of Kogi State.

The Kogi State Government, through its Ministry of Health, yesterday confirmed the outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting suspected to be cholera.

This was contained in a statement made available to journalists in Lokoja, by the State’s Epidemiologist, Dr Austin Ojotule, on behalf of the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna Audu.

Ojotule explained that seven communities were seriously affected in Kogi, Bassa, Lokoja, Ankpa and Kabba Bunu Local Govermnet Areas (LGAs) between February and August 2021, with eight deaths from three communities from three of the five LGAs.

“It has become very important for us as a ministry to brief the press on the outbreak of diarrhea and vomiting suspected to be cholera in some LGAs of the state in recent time.

‘’So far local governments namely, Kogi, Bassa, Lokoja, Ankpa and Kabba Bunu have been affected between February and August, 2021.

‘’Seven communities were affected in the aforementioned LGAs with 129 cases.

‘’However, we were able to confirm cholera in three of the communities in Kogi, Lokoja and Ankpa LGAs with 66 persons affected and 8 deaths (CFR=12.12%). These are border communities with hard to reach terrains.

‘’It is important to mention at this point that most of the deaths have occurred before the reports got to the local government/state authorities. Our findings also revealed that majority of the deaths in all the outbreaks occurred at home.

‘’In all the cases, the State Ministry of Health has supported the outbreak response with response commodities and technical support.

“The state is working closely with the local government to avert further outbreaks by strengthening and sustaining community sensitisation and mobilisation.

‘’This is to ensure that communities adopted health safety measures such as good personal and environmental hygiene, washing of hands with soap and water after visiting the toilet, avoid open defecation, boiling of drinking waters and proper cooking and handling of food and vegetables before eating as these measures are very key in preventing diarrhea diseases.

‘’People with diarrhea and vomiting are encouraged to visit the nearest health facility as soon as they notice symptoms,’’ he said.

The commissioner assured that state government would continue to collaborate with critical stakeholders and partners to ensure that no single individual dies of preventable disease in the state to ensure that diarrhea disease is reduced to the barest minimum in the state.