A cholera outbreak in Kwara state reported by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has led to the death of 17 people. In a release of the agency’s weekly epidemiological report for Week 26 this was disclosed on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. In the report 1,617 suspected cases of cholera were stated throughout the state with a total of 17 fatalities representing a 1.1% fatality rate. 818 (50.5%) suspected cases have been reported from the Ilorin West LGA of the state, with most endangered group being children aged between one to five years old.
There is a total of 460 (28.4%) cases already recorded. Accounting for 51.6%, males make up over half of the reported cases. The report called out to people to be more health conscious through personal and environmental hygiene practices. According to the report,”Instituting the habit of good environmental hygiene is a first step in preventing cholera outbreaks in a community or region, as the transmission cycle is not established at this point and an outbreak can be prevented.” NCDC further encouraged members of the society to take proper care of residential areas by disposing waste appropriately.
It stated “Environmental hygiene, in this context, focuses on care of residential areas, proper treatment and disposal of waste during an outbreak,”. NCDC further said that in order to achieve success in the fight against cholera all hands must be on deck. “To achieve the maximal impact of any of the aforementioned practices, a communal approach is encouraged. This will support better fostering and impact on the general public on the importance of environmental hygiene practices, in and out of an outbreak season. “These preventive messages should constitute part of the messages given to the general public at the community, LGA, State and national levels before and during an outbreak,” it stated.
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