Epidemiological data released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) shows that as of August 1, 2021, a total of 31,425 suspected cholera cases, 311 confirmed cases, including 816 deaths have been reported from 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), reports Moses Emorinken for the Nation Newspaper.
The States include Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Nasarawa, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Adamawa, Enugu, Katsina, Borno and FCT.
The report further revealed of the reported cases since the beginning of the year, 27 percent are aged 5 to 14 years.
Of all suspected cases, 51 percent are males and 49 percent are females.
The agency further explained a total of 709 samples have been collected with positive cases as follows: 234 rapid diagnostic test (RDT) positive only; 77 culture-positive; 311 RDT and culture positive. The test positivity rate (TPR) for laboratory confirmation by culture is 25 percent.
On what it is doing to curb the spread of the disease and manage cases identified, the NCDC stated that it has begun response activities in states, with response commodities.
It said: “There is ongoing surveillance in all states through the routine integrated disease surveillance (IDRS) and response and event-based surveillance (EBS).”
The NCDC said it has supported testing of samples received from Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Katsina, Enugu, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and the FCT at its National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Abuja.
