Difficulty in accessing affected communities due to security concerns, inadequate trained manpower, among others have been identified as the factors driving cholera infection in Nigeria,
Data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control show that a total of 58,698 suspected cases including 2,035 deaths have been reported from 23 states and the FCT in 2021.
States with high prevalence include Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, CrossRiver, Nasarawa, Niger, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Adamawa, Enugu, Katsina, Borno, Taraba and FCT.
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The agency noted that there are inadequate vaccines to cover all LGAs, wards and settlements with cholera outbreaks, open defecation and lack of potable drinking water in some rural areas and urban slums.
“Challenges includes inadequate health facility infrastructure and cholera commodities for management of patients, inadequate trained manpower for Cholera outbreak, detection, investigation and management,” it said.
The NCDC said the challenges also include poor and inconsistent reporting from states across the country.
The agency reported that between 16th and 27th of August, 12 states reported 3,098 suspected cases.
They are: Bauchi (1,145), Katsina(691), Zamfara(454), Yobe(216), Sokoto(196), Jigawa(187), Kano(80), Niger(79), Borno(30), FCT (11), Adamawa(6) and Kebbi(3).
Of these, there were 63 deaths from Katsina (19), Bauchi (16), Niger (7), Zamfara (6), Jigawa (4), Sokoto (4), Borno (4), Yobe (1), Kano (1) and Adamawa (1) states.
It also noted that of the suspected cases since the beginning of the year, 5-14 years is the most affected age group for both male and female.