Cholera Outbreak: 20 Die in Cross River, Gov’t Affirms Situation Under Control
The Cross River government said it had deployed human and material resources to control the cholera outbreak in Ekureku, which has killed 20 people.
Dr Janet Ekpeyong, Director General of the Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Calabar.
Ekpeyong, who expressed sadness over the deaths, said proactive measures had been taken to prevent the disease from spreading further in the affected villages of Ekureku in the state’s Abi Local Government Area while also claiming that if protocols had been followed in the affected villages, the deaths could have been avoided.
According to her, the state government has sent a response team, which includes representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nigerian Red Cross, and the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program.
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 sympathize with affected families.”
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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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She said “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.
“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 stated that samples had been taken and sent for confirmation, and that the water source was being treated and fumigated.
According to NAN, no fewer than 20 people died between Thursday and Saturday as a result of a cholera outbreak in the agrarian community that shares a border with Ebonyi.
Ekureku is made up of ten villages: Agbara, Ngarabe, Ekureku-be, Akpoha, Akare-for, Anong, Emenekpon, Etegevel, Egboronyi, and Emegeh.
