Cholera: Cross River govt confirms 20 deaths, 30 hospitalised

The Cross River State Government has confirmed the narrative by residents of Ekureku community that 20 people have died of cholera in the community.

The Director General of Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Janet Ekpeyong, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria, also said 30 other people in Ekureku have been hospitalised

Mrs Ekpeyong said the Cross River government has now deployed human and material resources to bring the cholera outbreak under control.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier published a NAN report in which residents of the community, which lacks basic amenities like pipe-borne water, said 20 people died of cholera in the 10 villages in the community between Thursday and Saturday.
On Sunday, Mrs Ekpeyong, who expressed sadness over the deaths, said proactive measures have been taken to prevent the further spread of the disease in the affected villages in Ekureku in Abi Local Government Area of the state.

She said the deaths could have been avoided if protocols were followed in the affected villages.

According to her, the state government has deployed a response team together with representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Nigerian Red Cross and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme.

She added that “the combined team have all intervened accordingly and helped to save lives and prevent further spread of the disease.

“The government finds this incident quite unfortunate and sympathise with affected families.”

The state primary healthcare boss disclosed that no fewer than 30 persons have been hospitalised as a result of the outbreak.

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“Because of the fast transmission rate of cholera, we recorded many deaths, with many others hospitalised in various government-owned facilities and are responding to treatment,” she said.

“We are applying every possible means to halt transmission as we have gone across the community sensitising the people on the possible ways of managing the disease.

“We have as well been speaking to community leaders to support the government by lending their voices to ensure their communities adhere to hygiene protocols to end cholera and other related illnesses,” she said.

She said samples have been taken and sent for confirmation, while treatment of the water source and fumigation was ongoing.

NAN had reported that no fewer than 20 persons had died between Thursday and Saturday following a cholera outbreak in the agrarian community that shares a boundary with Ebonyi.

Investigation revealed that the community had been grappling with the challenges of potable water and poor health facilities.

The 10 villages in Ekureku are Agbara, Ngarabe, Ekureku-be, Akpoha, Akare-for, Anong, Emenekpon, Etegevel, Egboronyi and Emegeh.