At least 583 Nigerians have died of Cholera in 2022, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, a gramme-negative rod-shaped bacterium.
In Nigeria, cholera is an endemic and seasonal disease, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and more often in areas with poor sanitation.
The latest report from the agency reveals that 23,550 cases were reported from across 32 states, plus the Federal Capital Territory, between January and November 2022.
In the report released on Tuesday, the suspected cases were reported across 270 Local Government Areas in 33 states. Borno topped with 12,459 cases, followed by Yobe with 1,888 cases. Katsina with 1,632 cases, while Gombe recorded 1,407 cases. Taraba recorded 1,142 cases and Kano with 1,131 cases.
“32 states and the FCT have reported suspected cholera cases in 2022. These are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara,” the report read.
“In the reporting month, six states reported 1,393 suspected cases: Borno (1,124), Gombe (165), Bauchi (61), Katsina (16), Adamawa (14), and Kano (13).
“There was a 78 per cent decrease in the number of new suspected cases in November Epi weeks 44–47 (1393) compared with October Epi weeks 40–43 (6306).
“In the reporting week, Borno (24), Gombe (14), Bauchi (13), Kano (5), Katsina (1), and Adamawa (1), reported 58 suspected cases.
“Borno, Gombe, and Bauchi states account for 88% of the 58 suspected cases reported in week 47. During the reporting week, two Cholera Rapid Diagnostic tests were conducted in Gombe 2 (100% positive).
“Two stool culture tests were conducted from Gombe, 1(100 per cent positive) and Bauchi 1(0 per cent positive) in epi week 47. Of the cases reported, there were two deaths with a weekly case fatality ratio (CFR) of 3.4 per cent. There were no new state-reported cases in week 47.
“The National Multi-Sectoral Cholera Technical Working Group continues to monitor response across states.”