4 Monkeypox, 53 Cholera Cases Confirmed In Katsina

According to Nuhu Yakubu Danja, the Katsina State Commissioner for Health, the state has recorded four confirmed cases of monkeypox out of the 27 samples that were collected across nine local government areas of the state.

On Tuesday, the commissioner told journalists at a press conference that 803 suspected cholera cases have also been recorded in the state, of which 53 were confirmed positive with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) ongoing across the state.

He explained that as of last week, 2,431 cases of COVID-19 were recorded with 37 related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in the state in early 2020.

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Danja, who was represented at the media chat by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mustapha Kabir, said the four victims of the monkeypox had been treated and discharged, while 14 samples were still in the laboratory awaiting final results.

“It is important to mention that the state has so far identified 27 persons from nine LGAS suspected to have symptoms of monkeypox as of last week of this month. Though no life was lost in the state due to this disease since the beginning of the blood outbreak. Samples were collected and tested in the laboratory from all the 27 suspected persons out of whom four were confirmed positive for monkeypox.

“For the Cholera outbreak, from January to date, about 803 suspected cases were identified, out of which 53 were confirmed positive with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) across the state. The identified cases were placed on free treatment jointly by the state, LGAs, and partners with very good outcomes”.

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He said the state government had reactivated emergency operation centres (EOCs) and rapid response teams had been deployed across the state as part of control measures to tackle cases of monkeypox and cholera in the state.

Danja reiterated that drugs and consumables such as antibiotics, analgesics, intravenous fluids, and oral rehydration solution (ORS) had been procured and distributed across the 34 local government areas of the state.

He also added that disease surveillance and notification officers (DSNOs), their assistants, and other health care workers had been trained on how to control the outbreaks, “Additional Healthcare workers were trained on case management and Infection prevention and control measures. Chlorine for water treatment was also distributed to the 34 LGAs.”