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General News of Tuesday, 10 August 2021

Source: punchng.com

NCDC preaches good water, hygiene as cholera deaths hit 816

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Monday said medical interventions would not stop the outbreak of cholera in the country.

This was just as it put the current death toll at 816.

This was contained in a statement by the centre’s Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, and titled ‘Cholera in Nigeria: Urgent call to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene.’

According to the statement, the NCDC is working with other agencies and partners to ensure that the spread of the disease is adequately curtailed.

The statement partly read, “The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is leading the national response to an outbreak of cholera across states in Nigeria. This has been exacerbated by poor access to clean water, open defecation, poor sanitation, and hygiene.

“Between January 1 and August 1, 2021, 31,425 suspected cases of cholera, 311 confirmed cases and 816 deaths have been reported from 22 states and FCT.

“The affected states are Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Adamawa, Katsina, Borno and FCT.”

Ihekweazu explained that since cholera is a waterborne disease, the risk of transmission is higher when there is poor sanitation and disruption of clean water supply.