Cholera killed 97 persons in Borno, Yobe, says UN agency

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) has said Yobe State declared the outbreak of cholera two weeks after it was declared in Borno State and has so far killed 97 persons.

Its Head of Communication, Samantha Newport, disclosed in a statement issued yesterday in Maiduguri, that the total recorded cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) in the two states stood at 3,126.

According to her, a total of 989 cases of suspected cholera were recorded in five councils of Yobe State, adding that of the number, 61 persons died as at September 19, 2018, representing a fatality rate of 6.2 per cent.

She said in Borno State, there were 2,137 cases of suspected cholera recorded in eight councils, killing 36 persons with fatality rate of 1.6 per cent as at September 20, 2018.

“The key challenge in the state is poor accessibility to some of the affected councils and lack of communication networks in Gulani and Gujba communities affected by the activities of insurgents and terrorists.

“Health partners and community mobilisers have visited thousands of households in both states in recent days as part of the active case search to encourage individuals with cholera symptoms to be screened before it spreads to other communities,” she stated.

She explained that in Borno, a 100-bed Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) is operational in Dala of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Magumeri Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU).

The treatment unit, according to her, operates from an existing health facility, adding that another 20-bed capacity treatment centre has also been set up in Dalaram locality in MMC.

On the cholera situation in Yobe, Newport said: “It is dire and more facilities are required to deal with the outbreak.

There is currently a CTU in Damaturu, the state capital, and a new CTU has been established in the General Hospital at Damagum in Fune Local Council.

She further disclosed that humanitarian organisations are working to dislodge and repair latrines in affected Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps where the risk of transmission is high due to congested living conditions.

“The state Ministry of Health, with the support of humanitarian partners, is coordinating the response through the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC),” she added.