No fewer than 20 people have died while 322 others have been infected with cholera following the recent outbreak of the disease in Bauchi State, the state Ministry of Health has confirmed.
The state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aliyu Mohammed Maigoro, who disclosed this yesterday at a press conference in Bauchi, said 322 cases of gastroenteritis were reported in nine local government areas of Bauchi, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Giade, Misau, Ningi, Shira, Toro and Warji.
He said the Bauchi LGA recorded 149 cases with nine deaths; Darazo LGA recorded one case; Ganjuwa recorded seven cases; Giade recorded 10 cases with one death; Misau recorded 31 cases with four deaths, Ningi recorded 51 cases with three deaths; Shira recorded one case, Toro recorded 58 cases with three deaths while Warji recorded 16 cases.
Maigoro noted that the first index case was that of a 37-year-old housewife who was presented at Burra General Hospital on April 24, 2021, adding that the index case complained of abdominal pains, watery diarrhea and vomiting, which she and others affected were successfully managed and discharged.
According to him, “The ministry, through the state Primary Health Care Development Agency, responded immediately to prevent the spread to other communities. It was discovered that there was an ongoing outbreak of similar disease in neighboring Sumaila and other local government areas of Kano State.
“Following intensified surveillance as a result of the report from Bura, four local government areas-Warji, Bauchi, Giade, Toro-detected and reported cases of gastroenteritis. No fewer than 21 samples have so far been collected and tested out of which 19 were positive by Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and culture, confirmed the presence of Cholera.”
The commissioner said some of the response activities so far conducted included activation of the state Public Health Emergency Operation Centre, development of an incident action plan; surveillance activities heightened to detect and report cases promptly, and setting up of isolation centres in all the general hospitals of the affected local government area.
Other response activities, according to the commissioner, are provision of drugs and consumables to all the isolation sites in the state; mobilisation of staff to provide care for victims; chlorination of wells and decontamination of households in the affected LGAs; engagement of community and religious leaders as well as the general public on the prevention and control measures among others.