CHOLERA: Nigeria Records 10,745 Cases, 256 Deaths In 10 Months

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has so far confirmed a total of 10,745 suspected cases of cholera and 256 deaths in 2022.

The agency disclosed this in its latest Cholera Situation weekly epidemiological report on its official website.

The situation report shows that 31 States have reported suspected cholera cases in 2022.

The states with suspected cases are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae; a gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a potentially life-threatening, primarily waterborne disease. There are many serogroups of V. cholerae, but only two (O1 and O139) cause outbreaks.

In Nigeria, cholera is an endemic and seasonal disease, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and more often in areas with poor sanitation.

In the reporting month, nine states reported 4,153 suspected cases – Borno (2626), Yobe (718), Gombe (317), Zamfara (212), Bauchi (119), Jigawa (95), Sokoto (47), Katsina (16) and Adamawa (3).

“There was a 42 percent increase in the number of new suspected cases in September Epi week 36-39 (4153) compared with August Epi week 31-35 (2428).

“In the reporting week, Borno (883), Gombe (97), Bauchi (15) Yobe (8), and Sokoto (3) reported 1006 suspected cases.

“Borno and Gombe States account for 97% of 1006 suspected cases reported in week 39.

“During the reporting week, No Cholera Rapid Diagnostic Test was conducted.

“No stool culture test was conducted from all states reporting in epi week 39.

“Of the cases reported, there were 19 deaths with a weekly case fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.9 percent.
“No new state reported cases in week 39.

“National multi-sectoral Cholera TWG continues to monitor response across the state,” it noted.

The cumulative epidemiology summary showed that “As of October 2, 2022, a total of 10,745 suspected cases including 256 deaths (CFR 2.4 percent) have been reported from 31 States in 2022.

“Of the suspected cases since the beginning of the year, the age group 5-14 years is the most affected age group for males and females.

“Of all suspected cases, 48 percent are males and 52 percent are females.

“Eleven states – Borno (3663 cases), Yobe (1632 cases), Katsina (767 cases), Taraba (675 cases), Cross River (649 cases), Gombe (470 cases), Jigawa (417 cases) and Bauchi (304 cases) account for 86 percent of all cumulative cases.

“Fifteen LGAs across six states Yobe (4), Borno (4), Taraba (3), Cross River (2), Gombe (1), and Zamfara (1), reported more than 100 cases each this year,” the report read in part.