Cross River Ranked Among States With The Highest Cholera Cases
Mark IDRAH
Cross River State has been listed among states with the highest number of cholera cases by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
Of all the cases recorded since the beginning of 2023, Cross River State accounted for 70 percent of the cumulative cases across the country. The state also accounted for 50 percent of all cholera deaths in the country, and this is worrisome.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. Its remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social amenities (development).
It takes between 12 hours and 5 days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water. Cholera affects both children and adults, and can kill within hours if untreated.
However, NCDC says it has partnered with a third-party logistics company for the distribution of cholera response commodities to states affected by the disease across the country.
This was contained in a statement made by the NCDC's incident manager on cholera technical working group Sebastian Yennan, on Tuesday 10th September, at the monthly meeting of the water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in the emergency working group in Abuja.
Yennan said efforts are ongoing to provide the response commodities to the affected states in the country, adding that intervention through cholera case management was carried out in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) by distributing infection prevention and control kits, WASH kits and chlorine powder among others.
According to the incident manager, Zamfara, Cross River, Adamawa and Ogun are the states with the highest cholera cases in Nigeria. He noted that the centre's intervention is prioritised in the four states, adding that the kits distribution could also be used in emergency situations like the Lassa Fever and Diphtheria outbreaks.
Yennan advised states to do more and prioritise cholera prevention by ensuring that funds were budgeted early and made accessible. He also called on states to preposition their needs to access funds during and after the disease outbreak.
