No fewer than 15 persons have been confirmed killed by an outbreak of Cholera in Bida Local Government Area of Niger state.
It was gathered that not less than 60 cases had been recorded in the outbreak which occurred on Sunday.
A reliable source who pleaded anonymity told our Correspondent that “as I am talking with you now, fifteen persons have so far died and we have fears that if urgent steps are not taken, there could be more death because there is only one doctor at the General Hospital where we have more victims.
He added that there are over sixty cases but I can tell you that there are six confirmed cases at the Federal Medical Centre Bida.
However, according to an official letter from the Bida LGA signed by the Council Secretary Suleiman Sheshi for the chairman dated 18th June, 2018 and addressed to the State Commissioner for Health, the Council had it that only ten (10) persons have died as the hospital had no capacity to contain the outbreak.
The letter, a copy of which was gotten by our Correspondent on Monday evening expressed regrets that as at the time of the outbreak (Sunday) “only one medical Doctor was on call at the hospital due to manpower shortage”.
“The Umaru Sanda general hospital is lacking medical consumables and adequate facilities to cater for the present “emergent” health challenge. Over ten (10) infected with the disease have been confirmed dead.”
The letter continues: “the present situation at hand cannot be handled by the Bida LGA alone, part of the reason why this letter is written is to request for superior intervention from the state government. Prompt action from your part will, without any doubt, save a lot of lives presently at critical point of survival”, the letter concluded.
In the meantime, the Council had in another letter titled “announcement” advised the people of the LGA to maintain the highest hygiene in other to avoid the spread of the outbreak.”
Confirming the outbreak, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mustapha Jibril told our Correspondent on phone that he will lead a team to assess the situation adding that there have been surveillance on the imminent outbreak.
According to him “last week, we told our team to improve on surveillance as there were cases of Cholera outbreak in neighbouring states.
“We are currently in Kano state for National Council on Health meeting but by God’s grace we be back on Tuesday (today) and will do our best to curtail the situation as we have already sent five doctors and Ambulances to Bida”.
Specifically, the Council warned against drinking of unhygienic water which is capable of spreading the disease in addition to telling residents “to be careful on the consumption of fruits already sliced for re-sale by grocers, and herbal concoction prepared under poor hygienic conditions.
“Person or persons suspected to have contacted cholera should be rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment without delays”, the statement said. Adding that “on no account should home treatment be used as an option”.
“This second statement also signed by the council secretary Suleiman Sheshi warned that: “whoever handles or has any form of contact with cholera patient should properly wash their hands with soap and detergents. Where these are not available, ashes should be used to wash the hands thoroughly.”
