Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks - more than 1,500 fatalities

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.compassnews.net/Ng/index....ies&Itemid=794

Cholera: Six dead, 78 hospitalised in Rivers
Tuesday, 19 January 2010 00:00 Nigerian Compass


Six persons were yesterday confirmed dead while 78 others were hospitalised following an outbreak of cholera at Opobo town in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government of Rivers State.


The medical officer in charge of Opobo Health Centre, Dr Adio Mosumoluwa, said that the casualties were recorded at the weekend.

?We have recorded six fatal casualties and we have 58 patients at Opobo Health Centre and another 20 at Nkoro town due to the outbreak,?? Mosumoluwa said.

He said the health centre needed equipment and materials like antibiotic kits, universal bottles to collect urine samples, tetra dishes to collect stools and water.

Commissioner for Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, confirmed the outbreak and said a team had been sent to collect water samples from the area.

She also said officials of the Ministry of Health had been sent to the local government to assess the situation and offer assistance to those affected.

Mr Dienye Bellgam, a resident of Opobo and founder of Swamps Communities Development Foundation, said that urgent assistance was needed to check the outbreak.

?As I speak to you, new patients are coming to the health centre in Opobo following the cholera outbreak and we need assistance to save them,? he said.

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Source: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=176310

Cholera: 21 Killed, 86 Hospitalised
From Matthew Onah in Yola, 06.21.2010

No fewer than 21 persons have lost their lives and 86 others lying critically ill in private health care facilities in Adamawa State following an outbreak of cholera in the state.

The outbreak of cholera which has ravaged about six local government council areas of the state in the past one week, is compounded by the strike action of the state workers , which is now in the second week.

The killer disease characterized by severe vomiting and acute diarrhea has claimed 11 lives in Numan local government council
area of the state since the its outbreak, while reports in the state broadcasting corporation, monitored in Yola,said 10 others have lost their lives in Wuro Hausa, a suburb,in Yola South Local Government Area of the state.

The disease, according to findings in Numan council area, has continued to wreak havoc on the physical condition of the people without abating for weeks, a development which attracted the attention of Laori Kwamoti, a member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly representing Numan.
Kwamoti,confirmed the outbreak at the weekend saying five adults and four children were lying critically ill at the Numan General Hospital.

He stated it was against this backdrop that he moved a motion under matters of public interest on the floor of the Assembly for deliberation aimed at seeking government intervention in the affected areas.


The lawmaker described the cases of cholera outbreak recorded in Numan as worrisome and disheartening, disclosing that the disease is coming at a time he has committed a lot of resources in providing potable water to members of his constituency.
?It was due to lack of drinkable water that I initiated several projects aimed at providing water to my people; but beyond this issue of water is the living habits of the people? Kwamoti observed. ?While we make effort to provide enough water sources, people must learn to adopt clean living habits?,

Consequently, the leadership of the Adamawa State House of Assembly has directed the State Commissioner for Health to as a matter of urgency carry out an assessment visit of affected areas in Numan and other areas being ravaged by the outbreak of cholera with a view to checkmating it. Speaker of the Assembly,Hon. James Barka , cautioned the affected communities to always live clean and avoid intake of dirty water from rivers.Similarly, signs and symptoms of the epidemic were first suspected early this month when over 150 residents of Wuro Hausa were at various times rushed and admitted at Wuro Hausa clinic for medical attention. It was learnt from health personnel in the area that upon admission,some of the ailing patients were treated and discharged while about 10 persons were said to have died after being discharged from the clinic.

A visit to most of the areas plagued by the disease showed the inhabitants live in squalor and with no access to potable water, a
position which an health official in the area corroborated.The Director, Primary Healthcare, Yola South Local Government Council,Aisha Musa who confirmed the outbreak of the deadly diseaese in Wuro Hausa observed with dismay how people prefer to live dirty and poor hygienic lives without having recourse to good sanitary conditions. She, however, said the council area has since reported the incident to officials of the State Ministry of Health for urgent measures to be taken in order to control the outbreak from escalating to an alarming proportion.

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Mid-tenure crisis puts Adamawa governor in fix
By Hindi Livinus


July 10, 2010 10:57PM
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The Adamawa State governor, Murtala Hammanyero Nyako, is currently battling issues arising from statecraft and political manoeuvring that are capable of under-cutting the gains of his two-year administration. He is faced with a labour crisis which has crippled socio-economic activities in the state over the past one month.

Incidentally, the state is ravaged by a cholera outbreak that has led to the loss of several lives in eight affected local government councils in the state. The death toll from the cholera epidemic is compounded by striking public health workers who have downed tools over the past one month. A total of 36 deaths (unofficial figures) have so far been reported, with the worst hit area being Numan Local Government Area. Zainab Uche, the state commissioner of Health, confirmed the development. She, however, said the government was responding to the reports and that the state government would soon announce the official number of those who have died.

continues at; http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Nex...overnor_in.csp

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Cholera outbreak: 6 die, 160 infected in Bauchi

Written by Ishola Micheal
Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Bauchi State Commissioner of Health, Mohammed Yahaya Jalam, has raised the alarm of an outbreak of cholera in the state, which has so far claimed six lives while over 160 people have contracted the disease and are currently receiving treatment at various health facilities across the state.

The commissioner raised the alarm while speaking with news men at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching (ATBUTH), Bauchi last weekend, on the development which he said was under control by his ministry and other health related agencies in the state, pointing out that of the 160 people infected, 100 had been treated at the ATBUTH and discharged while the remaining 60 were still receiving treatment.

He said the government had been able to locate the wards that were affected within the metropolis, and the government had been able to control and assisted the victims saying that ?we have been able to control it by disinfecting the whole wards by colorating the areas so that it does not break out in other wards and local government and we have been able to provide free treatment to all the affected persons?.

He added, ?what causes this cholera outbreak especially during rainy season is that most of the communities don?t treat their water before using them because when there is flood, it goes inside the well and when such water are taken, one will be infected.

After disinfecting the wards, we embarked on sensitisation campaign to make sure that people are aware because it is only when you know where the problem comes from that they can take precautions?.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/8873-cholera-outbreak-6-die-160-infected-in-bauchi

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Nigeria Threatened by Cholera Outbreak in Cameroon
From Tokunbo Adedoja in New York, 08.12.2010

Nigeria and other countries bordering Northern Cameroon - hit by cholera outbreak - are at the risk of the disease, the United Nations warned yesterday.
The current outbreak in Cameroon, which began in May, has now recorded more than 2,000 confirmed cases, with fatality rate of over 13 per cent, which is considered extremely high. The outbreak has already claimed at least 155 lives.

This area, which share borders with Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), is home to an estimated 5 million people and has relatively little clean water or proper sanitation, while the situation has been made worse by extensive flooding in the past months.
A statement issued in New York yesterday said "four months into this outbreak we are facing the very real possibility of cholera spreading to neighbouring regions and countries."
The statement said that women and children are especially vulnerable as the outbreak spreads from its current base in Cameroon?s extreme North and North regions.

Already, five UN humanitarian agencies are rushing medical supplies and other materials to northern Cameroon. Cholera drugs, oral rehydration salts, hygiene kits, surgical gloves, family water kits and educational materials are among the items that had been dispatched.
The statement said UNICEF is working with the World Health Organisation, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Food Programme and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as government ministries and the Red Cross, to bring relief to people in need, particularly women and children.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=180533

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Cholera outbreak kills 40 in northern Nigeria: official
(AFP) ? 6 hours ago

KANO, Nigeria ? A cholera outbreak has killed 40 people while 115 others have been infected in northern Nigeria's Borno State in the past week, a senior official said on Thursday.

"We have recorded cholera outbreak in eight of the 27 local governments in the state with 40 fatalities and 115 infections," state commisioner for local government affairs Abdurrahman Terab told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the state capital, which he said has been worst hit.

Health officials and drugs have been deployed to the affected areas while investigations into the outbreak have commenced, he said.

continues at; http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...yzESii7Xr0yG8A

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

47 dead from cholera in Bauchi
August 13, 2010 12:09PM


The Chairman of the Bauchi Primary Health Agency, Musa Dambam, says 47 deaths have so far been recorded since the outbreak of cholera in the state in June.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Bauchi that until recently, some 120 cases of cholera were being recorded every week in the state.

Dr Dambam said the figure had, however, dropped to 93 this week,
as a result of the drastic measures taken by the state government
to curb the menace.

He said many patients were currently on admission at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, where a tent had been erected for them, to seclude them from other patients.

Dambam noted that the casualty figure in the last two months was 3.6 per cent, which he said was relatively low, compared to those of other states, including Borno State, which also recorded a 40 per cent death rate from the menace.

He said efforts at ensuring improved management of the outbreak had brought down the number of cases being recorded.

He said the health ministry had embarked on enlightenment campaigns to sensitise the people to the need to always boil their water before drinking, and wash their hands before eating, as well as keep their environments clean. (NAN)

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5605633-146/47_dead_from_cholera_in_bauchi.csp

[tetano]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Cholera kills 87 in Nigeria: official

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) ? A cholera outbreak in Nigeria has killed 87 people during the past month while 1,315 others have been infected, official figures showed Monday.

The outbreak in the northern states of Bauchi and Borno was believed to be because of poor sanitation and the contamination of wells, while Nigeria's rainy season often sees a surge in cholera cases.

Bauchi State has recored 47 deaths and 1,200 infections in the past month, state health commissioner Mohammed Yahaya Jalem told AFP by telephone from the state capital.

Borno State health commissioner Abdurrahman Terab told AFP on Thursday that 40 people had died from cholera in the state within the previous week while 115 others were infected.

Jalem attributed the outbreak to poor sanitation and the contamination of open wells on which rural communities largely depend as major water source.

"We have mobilised health personnel and drugs in the affected areas and we have stepped up... campaigns on how people can guard against cholera and other water-related infections especially in the rainy season," he said.

Cholera is a water-borne disease and can also be transmitted by food that has been in contact with sewage. It causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration.

Health experts say a surge in cholera outbreaks is noticeable in Nigerian villages in the rainy season when rain water washes dirt into open wells and ponds.

More than 260 people died of cholera in four northern states in the last quarter of 2009.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100816/wl_africa_afp/nigeriahealthcholera

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/08/1...olera-attacks/


227 die in Borno, Bauchi cholera attacks
Cover Stories Aug 17, 2010
By Ndahi Marama & Suzan Edeh

MAIDUGURI?DEATH toll in the cholera epidemic which swept through Maiduguri and Bauchi like a hurricane, two weeks ago, has now risen to more than 147. About 1,368 others have been hospitalised.

children play in dirty water in cholera-stricken area REUTERS

This came just as 67 lives have been lost in Bauchi, with 1,742 also infected in an outbreak that is ravaging several local government areas in Bauchi State.

The epidemic which started in six council areas of Abadam, Dikwa, Kala-Balge, Guzamala and Kukawa communities in Borno State claimed 50 lives, before spreading to Maiduguri and Jere, where not less than 100 persons contacted the disease.
At press time, the casualty figure had risen to 80...

[Pathfinder]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Nigeria battles cholera, measles outbreaks

Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:01pm GMT

ABUJA (Reuters) - A cholera outbreak in northeastern Nigeria has killed 231 people this year across 11 states and infected more than 4,500 others, the country's chief epidemiologist said on Friday.

Neighbouring Cameroon has been suffering its worst epidemic of cholera, a disease generally spread through food and water contaminated with bacteria, since 2004 and there had been fears that the outbreak could spread into Nigeria and Chad.

"Recent cases are mainly from the northeastern part of the country," said Dr Henry Akpan, head of epidemiology in Nigeria's ministry of health, adding that 4,665 cases had been recorded in Africa's most populous nation since January.

.../

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE67J0ET20100820

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Source: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpage...8-2010-005.htm

Cholera claims 20, 168 hospitalised in Adamawa
?Situation under control - FG
From DAVID MOLOMO, Yola
Sunday, August 22 , 2010

The epidemic from water-borne disease, Cholera, continues to ravage parts of northern Nigeria as no fewer than 20 persons, particularly women and children, have been reported dead in Adamawa State in a fresh outbreak.

One hundred and sixty-eight persons have also been reported hospitalized in various parts of the state. In the Southern parts, in Ganye II, of Ganye Local Government Area 10 persons, including an 85-year-old woman, died of the disease at the weekend, according to the Principal Medical Officer of Ganye General Hospital, Dr. Daniel Tizhe.

Dr Tizhe told our correspondent that the management of the hospital had to isolate the victim in a separate ward to avoid infecting other patients in the hospital. According to him, the outbreak of the disease was reported to the hospital on August 1 and had treated 69 victims while 10 of them died before they got to the hospital from the village...

...In Madagali Local Government in the northern part of the state, ten persons out of 129 patients hospitalized have died. The victims are from Sukur, Palan, Duhu and Gulak villages.

[Shiloh]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Source: http://nigerianbulletin.com/2010/08/...-the-guardian/

Cholera spreads in Bauchi, Borno ? The Guardian
August 23, 2010 by Bunmi Awolusi

The death toll in the cholera outbreak in Bauchi and Borno states has risen by another 129 in addition to the 231 reported last week. The number of infected persons has also increased from 4800 to 5,320 amid efforts by the Federal Government to check the crisis...

[tetano]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Cholera death toll in Nigeria rises to 283


KANO, Nigeria ? The death toll from cholera and a related disease in northern Nigerian has risen to 283 from 231 within a week, according to various official figures.

The figure of those infected by cholera in the past two weeks has also risen above 5,000 from the earlier 4,600 figure announced last week, according to officials.

The latest outbreak was recorded in northeastern Yobe State where 42 people died in the past week from a disease health officials said was a form of gastro-enteritis, characterised by vomiting and diarrhoea, which are also cholera symptoms.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-88MLF3?OpenDocument

[tetano]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Cholera epidemic threatens all of Nigeria

Lagos - A cholera epidemic that has killed more than 350 people in Nigeria since the start of the year now poses a threat to the entire country, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

"Epidemiological evidence indicates that the entire country is at risk," the ministry said in a statement.

"Reports received so far from 11 states show we have recorded 6,437 cases with 352 deaths from cholera this year. Most of the outbreaks occurred in the northwest and northeast zones" of the country, it stated.

Surveys carried out by the ministry showed that less than 40 percent of the population in the affected states have access to adequate toilet facilities, the statement said.


Some 66 percent of the rural population also lacks access to safe drinking water, it said. A major cause of cholera is contaminated food or water.

Cholera causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to dehydration. With a short incubation period, it can be fatal if not treated in time.

Eighty-three people have also died of measles between January and August in 11 states, while 5,073 others have been infected, the statement said.

The ministry said that it will procure drugs and vaccines, as well as provide technical assistance to the states hit by the outbreaks. It plans to increase public awareness on symptons and prevention.

In addition, World Health Organisation figures indicate that 42 people have died in northeastern Yobe State in the past week from a form of gastro-enteritis, characterised by vomiting and diarrhoea, which are also cholera symptoms.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20100825191423848C864906

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Nigeria: 2010 Cholera outbreaks

Water contamination: 42 deaths, 403 cases, 41 on admission in Yobe
From ABU ONYELEBOCHO, Damaturu
Wednesday, August 25, 2010



No fewer than 42 persons have died as a result of water contamination with over 403 recorded cases of the water infections in some communities of 10 local government areas of Yobe State. 41 others were on admission over similar infections. Coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the state, Dr. Adamu Isa who briefed newsmen in Damaturu on the situation said the disease which was first recorded on July 27 has not been confirmed even though there were physical signs of cholera. According to him, the situation was known as gastroenteritis (water stooling which could be caused by anything).

Dr. Isa explained that the situation was worsened by lack of Public Health Laboratory (PHL) in the whole of the Northeast sub-region for gram staining and for ing out culture and sensitivity to ascertain the disease, adding that the test on the first sample failed at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) while seven other samples were subsequently rejected hence the equipment at the UMTH were not accredited to carry out such tests.

?Nigeria needs PHL across states of the federation to enable quick and appropriate intervention,? he lamented.
According to the WHO chief, it was difficult to isolate any bacterium ideally after two hours drive for test. He therefore noted that a special transport medium containing certain chemicals were needed to keep bacteria intact for four to six hours to enable isolation for tests pointing out that all efforts had been made to no avail.
Speaking on behalf of the deputy governor, Mr. Abubakar D. Aliyu who is also the commissioner for health, his Press Secretary, Musa Alaraba said the situation was an unfortunate one noting that a team of scientists and medical officials from the state were dispatched by the state government to the areas where the cases were first reported.

On recommendation of the experts, according to Alaraba, drugs worth millions of naira were purchased for immediate treatment of the victims of the disease.
Alaraba said the drugs were to aid the victims replenish lost fluids while they also received other antibiotics as the state government continued to explore other interventions to save people of the state. He said Governor Ibrahim Gaidam had made a provision for the establishment of PHL in the budget.

The statistics made available to newsmen indicated that Gujba LGA recorded 53 cases with 10 cases of death while its neighbouring LGA, Gulani, recorded 70 cases, eigtht deaths and five on admission. Fika has 48 cases, six deaths, six on admission; Potiskum, 102 cases, five deaths, 23 on admission; Nguru, 38 cases, three deaths; Fune, 46 cases, three deaths; Karasuwa, eight cases, one death; Jakusko, nine cases with no death; Nangere, two cases, one death with seven on admission. Damaturu, the state capital area recorded 67 cases, five deaths with seven on admission.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/aug/25/national-18-08-2010-015.htm