A cholera outbreak in Adamawa State has resulted in the confirmed deaths of fifteen individuals, with reports indicating that over 300 more are receiving treatment in hospitals.
The epidemic has impacted four local government areas: Yola South, Yola North, Fufore, and Girei.
Felix Tangwami, the state Commissioner for Health and Human Services, announced the outbreak in Yola, revealing that seven deaths occurred at a government facility while the remaining eight were reported within the communities.
Tangwami stated that the government, in collaboration with development partners, is actively addressing the situation. To combat the outbreak, the state has procured 200,000 cholera vaccines from UNICEF, and efforts are underway to isolate patients, provide treatment, and conduct laboratory tests to identify the organism responsible for the acute watery diarrhea.
He emphasized that the proactive measures implemented by the government have significantly helped to limit the spread of the epidemic. He urged families to prioritize personal hygiene and sanitation as essential contributions to controlling the outbreak.
The commissioner explained that the delay in announcing the epidemic was due to the need for thorough verification of the organism causing the illness. He noted that declaring the outbreak without proper confirmation would constitute a serious ethical violation and could have detrimental consequences for the state.
He said: “We have received results of samples sent to NCDC for confirmation as to what we are dealing with is Acute Watery Diarrhea or Cholera Unfortunately out of the 38 samples sent to the National Reference Laboratory, NRL, in Abuja, 30 samples returned positive for Cholera, six came back negative, two still on going isolation and 12 still pending.
“With these results therefore, I want to confirm to the public that there’s an outbreak of CHOLERA in Adamawa state, and people should be cautious of their movements, interactions, personal hygiene, and the source of water they drink.
“So far, about 308 people were admitted, 244 treated successfully and discharged, 15 deaths were recorded, six at the facility and six at home.
“However, the public are assured that the government through it’s health workers is doing everything possible by the grace of God to contain the situation as done in the past with other similar outbreaks in the state.
“We enjoin the people to continue to pray for us as we face this monster, should remain calm and not panic, cooperate with health workers as they go around to sensitise and give professional advice on how we should conduct ourselves.
“The government has given all the necessary support to ensure this is prevented from spreading to other areas. We shall continue,” Tangwami noted.