Nigeria recorded no fewer than 3,604 deaths and 111,062 cases of cholera in 2021, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has said.
NCDC made this known in its situation report for the 52nd epidemiological and last report for 2021.
The centre also explained that while 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory were ravaged by cholera, Anambra, Edo and Imo, did not report suspected cases during the period.
“Thirty-three states and the FCT reported suspected cholera cases in 2021.!
“These are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, the FCT, Gombe, Jigawa,Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Kebbi.
“Others are Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Rivers and Zamfara,’’ it said.
The NCDC said since the beginning of the year, the age group of five to 14 is the most affected age group for male and female.
Of all suspected cases, 50 per cent are males and 50 per cent are females.
A breakdown, showed that Bauchi reported 19,558 cases; Jigawa, 15,141; Kano, 12,116, and Zamfara, 11,931.
“Eleven LGAs across five states of Bauchi (four), Zamfara (four), Kano (one), Katsina (one) and Borno (one) reported more than 1,000 cases each in the year.’’
The centre said that difficulty in accessing some communities due to security concerns; open defecation in affected communities; lack of potable drinking water in some rural areas and urban slums were some of the challenges it encountered.
