Not less than 60 cases of cholera have been reported in an outbreak which occurred in Bida Local Government Area of Niger State, leaving at least 15 persons dead.
A source who pleaded anonymity said the death may have risen above 15, adding: “There is only one doctor attending to patients at the Umaru Sanda General hospital.”
In a swift response, an official letter from the Bida LGA, signed by the Council Secretary, Suleiman Sheshi, for the chairman, dated June 18, 2018 and addressed to the State Commissioner for Health, the Council had it that it has no capacity to contain the outbreak and it has led to 10 deaths.
The letter, a copy of which was made available to The Eagle Online, expressed regrets that as at the time of the outbreak (Sunday) “only one Medical Doctor was on call at the hospital due to manpower shortage.
“The General Hospital is lacking medical consumables and adequate facilities to cater for the present ‘emergent’ health challenge. Over ten (10) infected with the disease have been confirmed dead.
“The present situation at hand cannot be handled by the Bida LGA alone, part of the reason why this letter is written is to request for superior intervention from the state government. Prompt action from your part will, without any doubt, save a lot of lives presently at critical point of survival.”
While confirming the incident, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mustapha Jibril, said: “We are currently in Kano State for National Council on Health meeting but by God’s grace we will be back on Tuesday and we will do our best to curtail the situation as we have already sent five doctors and Ambulances to Bida.
“We have told our team to improve on surveillance as there have been cases of Cholera outbreak in neighbouring states.”
In the meantime, the Council had in another letter, titled: “Announcement,” advised the people of the LGA to maintain the highest hygiene in other to avoid the spread of the outbreak.
Specifically, the Council warned against drinking of unhygienic water, which is capable of spreading the disease, in addition to telling residents “to be careful on the consumption of fruits already sliced for re-sale by grocers, and herbal concoction prepared under poor hygienic conditions.
“Person or persons suspected to have contacted cholera should be rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment without delays.
“On no account should home treatment be used as an option.”
The second statement, also signed by Sheshi, warned: “Whoever handles or has any form of contact with cholera patient should properly wash their hands with soap and detergents. Where these are not available, ashes should be used to wash the hands thoroughly.”