The Federal Government has warned that the cholera epidemic ravaging some states in the North may spread to other parts of the country.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who raised the fresh alarm on Friday in Abuja, warned that the entire country was at great risk. Chukwu spoke in his office while receiving infusion products donated by Juhel Nigeria Limited, an indigenous pharmaceuticals manufacturing company, to states affected by the disease..
The minister’s alarm followed reports that the epidemic had claimed 571 lives in seven states as at Thursday, up from 325 earlier reported. So far, at least 10,134 people are said to have been infected, out which Borno and Bauchi states recorded 2,617 and 2,417 cases respectively..
In Borno, 162 lives were lost in 18 local government areas while 81 persons died in seven council areas of Bauchi State.
The Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Mike Anibueze, who gave the latest figures at the briefing, however, contradicted the minister’s stance by saying the epidemic was showing a downward trend.
The chairman of Juhel, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, said the donation was part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility, aimed at assisting victims of the disease.
Among the drugs donated were dextrose saline, dextrose in water (five per cent), normal saline, darrows solution and water for injection.
Thanking the company for the gesture, the minister noted that the cases recorded in some of the states, especially Bauchi, were as a result of person-person transmission.
“The North-East is the worst hit zone, for now. Out of the seven states, Bauchi and Borno are most affected and more people are dying; but we are getting things under control.
“I must warn that every state in Nigeria stands the risk of having cholera and that is why other states must be on their guard and take pre-emptive action,” he said.
Cholera[1] is a severe infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which primarily affects the small intestine. The main symptoms include profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission is primarily by the acquisition of the pathogen through contaminated drinking water or infected food. The severity of the diarrhea and associated vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte loss, which can lead to death. Cholera is a major cause of death in the world.
The study of cholera has been used as an example of early epidemiology. Study of the V. cholerae bacterium has also shed light on many of the mechanisms used by bacteria to infect and survive in their hosts.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera
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