The Ekiti State Government on Friday said it has confirmed five suspected new cases of cholera disease in Moba Local Government Area of the state.
So far,about 27 states and the Federal Capital Territory have been worse hit by the cholera outbreak since the beginning of 2021, leading to hundreds of deaths.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, a total of 2,404 persons have died of the disease since its outbreak in Nigeria this year.
As of Week 36, which is within September, a total of 72,910 suspected cases were recorded in 27 states and the FCT and from 336 local government areas.
The affected states are Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.
In the current week 36, which is between September 6 and 12, a total of 23 persons died of the disease out of 1,182 suspected cases reported from 13 states.
The suspected cases are in Bauchi (472), Katsina (194), Borno (106), Jigawa (95), Yobe (80), Kaduna (68), Adamawa (63), Sokoto (38), Gombe (34), Abia (13), Taraba (10), Ogun (8) and Niger (1).
In a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, on Friday, by the Commissioner for Health, Banji Filani, said the Ministry of Health had reinforced cholera surveillance, to pick up early suspected case to mitigate the outbreak.
Filani also alerted the citizens about a possible outbreak of cholera in some local government areas of the state and cautioned them on proper hygiene in those susceptible areas and other parts of the state.
He maintained that the state was also leveraging on the capacity that has been built during the COVID-19 response to handle the present situation, assuring that the government is on red alert to tame the disease.
He advised that residents should boil and store water in clean and safe containers before drinking, while food should be cooked and stored safely.
He said people should wash hands frequently with soap under clean running water especially after defecation and before handling food or eating, as well as avoid open defecation and indiscriminate refuse dumping.
He urged residents to notify the health authorities in their community if they noticed anyone suffering from cholera symptoms.
The commissioner directed the health workers to be conscious of the happenings and maintain rapid response in discovery of suspected cases, while also observing standard protocols for infection prevention and control.
