Bauchi State Ministry of Health says it treated over 60,000 wells across the state with chlorine as a proactive measure against the outbreak of cholera in the state.
Dr. Sani Malami, the state’s Commissioner for Health, who revealed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Friday, said that cholera was a dangerous disease that should not be treated with levity.
“We take containment measures so that it does not spread, and also preventive measures so that other members of the public do not get infected.
“We have carried out extensive chlorination of wells especially, where people do not have pipe- borne- water, as well as where people chose by their own volition to use wells.
“So far, we have chlorinated over 60,000 wells in order to make them safe, and protect the people from contacting cholera,” he said.
Malami explained that the effort was necessary in view of the recent outbreak of the disease in Bauchi and Tafawa Balewa local government areas of the state.
He said that the state government had already taken proactive measures to curtail the virus upon receiving reports from the two local government areas.
“The situation was brought under control, as the confirmed cases had been taken to isolation centres, and have since been treated, with no single death.
“Since these reported cases, we have strengthened our surveillance system and epidemiological processes.
“We are now operating at a very high level of response. I received daily report right from my table, about any incidence or any suspected case, for immediate action.
“We have also put in place, a State Emergency Response Team on Cholera, with members drawn from major stakeholders.
“The stakeholders include State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Red Cross and Primary Health Care Agency, among others.
“The committee is working round the clock, and had been conducting epidemiological investigation on any reported cases, ‘’ Malami said.
The commissioner added that his ministry’s officials had also visited over 20,000 homes, advocating for timely report of any suspected case of the disease to the nearest health facility, for quick diagnosis.
Malami however refuted reports by its local media and some national dailies to the effect that there was an outbreak of cholera in Kirfi local government area of the state.
He said that clinical diagnoses of the affected persons indicated that they had diarrhoea which could be caused by many things
“When we heard the rumour that people were dying of cholera in the area, we sent our team to the local government and they took samples. Our diagnosis did not indicate any sign of cholera.
“So I want to confirm that there is no confirmed diagnosis of cholera outbreak in Kirfi local government area,” Malami said.
NAN reports that there were earlier reports by the media, claiming an outbreak of cholera in Kirfi local government area, killing three, with 25 persons hospitalised.
