Niger confirms 7 death, 74 cases of cholera outbreak

Niger state government on Tuesday confirmed that seven people died in the cholera outbreak in Bida local government area. Commissioner of Health, Dr Mustapha Jibril, who confirmed the incident after an assessment visit to the scene said 74 cases were reported in all the wards of the local government area. The council through its secretary, […]

Niger state government on Tuesday confirmed that seven people died in the cholera outbreak in Bida local government area.

Commissioner of Health, Dr Mustapha Jibril, who confirmed the incident after an assessment visit to the scene said 74 cases were reported in all the wards of the local government area.

The council through its secretary, Suleiman Sheshi, had in a letter yesterday put the casualty figure at 15 out of 60 reported cases.

In the letter dated June 18 and addressed to the health commissioner, the council said it has no capacity to contain the outbreak and called for urgent intervention.

The letter claimed that as at the time of the outbreak "only one medical doctor was on call at the hospital due to manpower shortage".

However, the commissioner said the death toll was exaggerated even as he claimed that the state government had acted promptly to avert what would have been a calamity.

He said 15 patients are on admission at the Federal Medical Center Bida, while the rest are receiving treatment at the Umoru Sanda Memorial hospital within the Council headquarters.

He pointed at poor hygiene as the possible cause of the outbreak.

He said the state government has dispatched outbreak team to the affected area for further assessment and active case search in addition to deployment of rapid response clinical team to assist in management.

He said all hospitals and medical personnel have been put on red alert to avert the possibility of spread, adding that all infected persons are to be given free treatment.