Cholera has claimed 479 lives since the beginning of this year with 19,305 suspected cases reported from 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A situation report released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Monday, said the states are Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, and Kaduna.
Others are Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara and the FCT.
“As at July 11, 2021, a total of 19,305 suspected cases including 479 deaths (CFR 2.5%) have been reported from 18 states and FCT since the beginning of 2021 .
“ Of the reported cases since the beginning of the year, 11.0% are aged 5 – 14 years .
“Of all suspected cases, 52% are males and 48% are females,” the report said .
The report said there has been an increase in the number of new cases in Bauchi, Kano Jigawa , and Kwara , and account for 92% of 3,878 cases reported in the last two weeks.
According to the report cholera killed 31 people between July 5th to 11th alone.
Data from the report also showed that since the beginning of the year, a total of 515 samples have been collected with positive cases as follows – 182 Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) positive only; 55 culture positive; 237 RDT and culture positive. It also revealed that the test positivity rate (TPR) for laboratory confirmation by culture is 32.2%
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by a bacteria called vibrio cholera. It is a potentially life-threatening, and primarily a water-borne disease.
Symptoms of the disease include nausea and vomiting , dehydration which can lead to shock, kidney injury and sudden death , passage of profuse pale and milky, watery stool (rice water coloured), and body weakness.