Cholera kills 2,141 Nigerians, country monitoring 65,145 ‘suspected’ cases

NCDC has announced 65,145 suspected cases of cholera, including 2,141 deaths, representing a case fatality rate (CFR) of 3.3 per cent as of September 2, 2021.

News Agency of Nigeria • September 7, 2021

A photo of Cholera patients used to illustrate the story [photo credit: The Newyork Times]

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 65,145 suspected cases of cholera, including 2,141 deaths, representing a case fatality rate (CFR) of 3.3 per cent reported from 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory as of September 2, 2021.

The NCDC disclosed this on its Cholera Situation weekly epidemiological report posted on its official website on Monday.

There was a 62 per cent decrease in the number of new suspected cases in week 33 (2,127) compared with the 3,098 cases in week 32.

According to the report, Bauchi with 855 cases, Katsina with 396 cases, and Kano’s 306 cases accounted for 73.2 per cent of 2,127 suspected cases reported in week 34. Others are Yobe (162), Zamfara (80), Niger (78), Borno (67), Sokoto (45), Kaduna (41), Gombe (21), FCT (18), Kebbi (17), Adamawa (15), Taraba (13), Nasarawa (10), Plateau (2) and Jigawa (1).

It noted that the suspected cases were since the beginning of 2021, with children aged five to 14 as the most affected.

All the suspected cases comprised 51 per cent males and 49 per cent females.

It added, “23 states and the FCT have reported suspected cholera cases in 2021. These included Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Nasarawa, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Adamawa, Enugu, Katsina, Borno, Taraba, and the FCT.”

“In the reporting week,” said NCDC, “16 states plus the FCT reported 2,127 suspected cases.”

Out of the suspected cases, there were 32 rapid diagnoses tests (RDT), confirmed cases from Adamawa (11), Katsina (8), Kaduna (7), Borno (4), Taraba (1), and Yobe (1). There were 32 culture-confirmed cases from Yobe (12), Adamawa (11), Katsina (8), and Borno (1).

The public health agency added that of the cases reported, there were 48 deaths from Bauchi (10), Kano (7), Katsina (6), Taraba (5), Zamfara (4), Sokoto (4), Borno (4), Niger (3), Nasarawa (2), Kebbi (1), Yobe (1) and Kaduna (1) states with a CFR of 2.3 per cent.

“No new state reported cases in epi week 34. The national multi-sectoral EOC activated at level 02 continues to coordinate the national response Epi-Summary,” it stated.

(NAN)