The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention declared, on Wednesday that it might declare an emergency on the outbreak of cholera in the country.
The NCDC Director General, Dr Jide Idris, who spoke in Lagos, said the centre was monitoring the situation and might declare an emergency if data showed that the outbreak had exceeded a manageable threshold.
Olajide made the revelation while speaking at the Adetokunbo Alakija Memorial Travel Medicine Lecture held at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, organised by the Nigerian Society of Travel Medicine
It has been reported that the cholera outbreak has spread to 30 states of the Nigerian Federation.
The World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the International Organisation for Migration held an emergency meeting in Lagos on Tuesday to brainstorm how to curb the disease. The WHO Country Representative, Dr Walter Mulombo, disclosed the meeting on his X handle.
It will be recalled that NCDC, in its recent report, announced that from January 1 to June 11, 2024, over 1,141 suspected and over 65 confirmed cases of cholera, resulting in over 30 deaths, had been reported from 96 LGAs with 17 confirmed cases and 15 fatalities attributed to severe dehydration caused by the delayed presentation.
“We have been tracking cholera cases and we are documenting them. For the last two or three weeks, the incidence shot up, with a rising number of deaths and that is why we started investigating and this is where Lagos State came in.” the NCDC boss concluded.
