Cholera kills 7, afflicts 74 in Niger

Niger state government yesterday confirmed the outbreak of cholera in Bida local government of the state, disclosing that seven persons had died out of 74 cases. The Commissioner for Health, Dr Mustapha Jibril, made the disclosure after an assessment visit to the scene, adding that 74 cases were reported in all the wards of the local government area.
Secretary of the local government area, Suleiman Sheshi, had in a letter on Monday put the casualty figure at 15 out of 60 reported cases.
In the letter dated June 18 and addressed to the Commissioner for Health, the Council said it had 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, adding 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 Centre, Bida,” while the rest were receiving treatment at the Umoru Sanda Memorial Hospital within the Council headquarters.
Jibrin attributed the cause of the outbreak of the disease to poor hygiene, and that the state government had dispatched outbreak team to the affected area for further assessment.
He said active case search team in addition to deployment of rapid response clinical team had been deployed 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 were to be given free treatment.