Cholera spreads to 31 states, claims 34 lives

There were indications yesterday that the spread of Cholera in the country is on the upward spiral.

At the last count, no fewer than 34 deaths had been recorded as the disease spreads to 31 states, with Lagos and Bayelsa as states with the highest number of infections.

Suspected cases nationwide now stand at 1,283.

The development has raised so much concern as to warrant calls in some quarters for declaration of a state of emergency, while the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has already activated its Emergency Operations Centre.

The Director-General of NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, told The Nation in an exclusive interview yesterday that the nation had recorded 34 deaths from confirmed and suspected cases of cholera outbreak in 15 states with a high burden of the disease between January and June 21, 2024.

While declaring that there is no cause for alarm over the outbreak of the epidemic in 31 states across the country, Idris said Lagos and Bayelsa states have the highest burden.

Based on this development, he said, the agency would commence an emergency operation centre on Monday.

Since June 12 when the last public health alert was raised by NCDC, the spread of the disease as well as the number of confirmed cases and deaths have risen.

According to the agency, about 1,141 cases of suspected cholera cases were recorded between January and June 11, 2024 while 65 have been confirmed.

As of June 12, 30 deaths were reported from 96 local government areas (LGAs) in 30 states, with 10 states (Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa, and Lagos) contributing 90 per cent to the burden of the disease.

By June 20, the figures had increased, with the breakdown showing that while Lagos has recorded the highest number of fatalities so far with 18 deaths, Bayelsa State had the highest number of confirmed cases with 466 and two deaths.

The DG of NCDC gave a breakdown of the spread and fatalities of the disease as follows:

Bayelsa: 466 confirmed cases, 2 deaths;

Lagos: 409 confirmed cases, 18 deaths;

Zamfara: 64 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Abia: 51 confirmed cases, 4 deaths;

Bauchi: 46 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Cross River: 42 confirmed cases, 1 death;

Ebonyi: 38 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Katsina: 34 confirmed cases, 3 deaths;

Delta: 34 confirmed cases, 4 deaths;

Imo: 28 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Nasarawa: 19 confirmed cases, 1 death;

Ondo: 17 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Kano: 13 confirmed cases, 1 death;

Niger: 11 confirmed cases, 0 deaths;

Osun: 11 confirmed cases, 0 deaths.

Total deaths: 34; confirmed cases: 1,288.