Cholera kills 11 in Ebonyi
From Chinedu Nwafor, Abakaliki
About 11 persons have died of cholera in Ndibokote village of Ezza Inyimagu in Izzi Local Government Area, Ebonyi State.
The cholera outbreak struck in the area on Monday, 23rd September 2024.
The victims comprises men, women and children equally claimed the life of a nursing mother who left behind a 9 months old baby.
The Hon. Commissioner for Health, Dr. Moses Ekuma who confirmed the cholera outbreak, further disclosed that about 9 to 10 deaths had been recorded while about 20 affected persons were responding to treatment.
He enumerated the effort they have made to bring the condition under control and appreciated the Ebonyi State Governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru for approving fund for the procurement of medical commodities to tackle the outbreak.
Dr. Ekuma disclosed that three treatment centers including Iziogo health center, Sudan Mission, Onuenyim and Ndibokote village had been established in the area and advised the people to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
According to him, once you start having symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, you should rush to any of these emergency treatment centers.
The Commissioner revealed that they embarked on emergency response to avoid further loss of lives in the area and lauded development partners like WHO and UNICEF for their support.
Contributing, the Director, Public Health, Dr Hyacinth Ebenyi said that though they believed that the outbreak was as a result of suspected case from the woman who was buried, open defecation and poor hygiene contributed to the outbreak of the disease as they got their drinking water from streams.
On his part, a stakeholder of the Community, Elder Stephen Nwankpuma said that immediately he got the distress call, he called relevant authorities which led to quick intervention of the State Government.
Earlier, a Community Health Worker and the owner of God’s Healing Clinic, Mr. Maduabuchi Nwokpuru narrated that the affected people brought to his facility were stooling and vomiting profusely adding that they worked assiduously to save their lives. He pointed out that some cases were referred, some cases lost and few were responding to treatment.
Some members of the Community who spoke on the ground of anonymity said that the outbreak began after the burial of a woman suspected to have died of cholera last week
