The Borno State government has confirmed the demise of 3 persons as a result of cholera disease outbreak in the state.
Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr Haruna Mshelia, made the disclosure during an interview with the press on Thursday in Maiduguri.
According to Dr Mshelia, so far about 693 persons have been diagnosed with the disease in villages around the Lake Chad area of the state.
He noted that the epidemic first occurred six weeks ago in Baga, Doro Baga, Bundiram and Kukawa villages while 77 samples were collected, out of which 69 confirmed suspicion that it was cholera.
The commissioner said the state government has set up two treatment centres in Baga and Kukawa respectively, to attend to all reported cases.
Dr Mshelia, explained further that the victims who died were brought to the treatment centre either in critical condition or dead on arrival.
He maintained that the cases are common in areas recovered from Boko Haram terrorists, including Baga and Kukawa which consist of people living in their homes and those at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
On some of the causes of the outbreak, Mshelia said: “In those areas around the shores, the challenge they have is with open defecation because it’s very difficult to build toilets there.”
“Unless you have the means to use blocks, the soil is very loose and if you did a hole and just cover it, it collapses. So out of frustration, they practice open defecation which is a recipe for cholera outbreak,” he added.
The commissioner, however, said all water sources in the area have since been chlorinated while locals are constantly being educated on cleanliness and other practices that would prevent them from contracting the disease.
He was also hopeful that with only three new cases reported in Baga on Wednesday, with none in Doro and Kukawa, the outbreak would be totally defeated with the measures put in place.
