Adamawa State has declared an end to the cholera outbreak that ravaged the state in recent times. This was after finding no suspected case despite weeks of ‘heightened’ surveillance.
The declaration yesterday, however, came after months the disease had affected 1,959 people and resulted in 55 deaths.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Isa Abdullahi, who addressed reporters in Yola yesterday, recalled that the cholera outbreak was declared in July last year and that in the succeeding months, there occurred a total of 1,959 suspected cholera cases.
The commissioner said: “Since we have not recorded any case despite heightened surveillance for cholera for several weeks, we (government and partners) are happy to declare the cholera outbreak over.
“Since the beginning of the outbreak, a total of 1,959 suspected cases with 55 deaths were recorded.”
The commissioner, however, cautioned that the declaration of the end of cholera does not suggest a time to relax.
“It is a window of opportunity to heighten our preparedness against cholera and other vaccines preventable diseases,” he said.
He thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Rescue Committee (IRC), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and other organisations that collaborated with the state government in managing cholera from when it broke out in July last year to now to keep infections and fatalities as low as it could be helped.
According to him, while the cholera outbreak lasted, the state government and its agencies, development partners and communities collaborated to ensure prompt detection of suspected cases, confirmation by appropriate tools and appropriate case management.
“The state and development partners ensured adequate risk communication messages to aid the prevention of the disease.
“Reporting and referral were widely circulated. Cholera treatment centres were set up in Specialist Hospital Yola while general hospitals and cottage hospitals, as well as some primary health care centres, were utilised as cholera treatment centres,” the commissioner said.