WHO Sends Staff To Control Cholera Outbreak in Adamawa State

Last month, Vanguard reported 13 people dead from a cholera outbreak in Yobe, as of last week there 12 dead from the disease and 434 suspected Cholera cases in Adamawa state.

The disease is claiming lives at an alarming rate, The World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed 39 staff to control the outbreak with plans to engage an additional 15 ad-hoc personnel to rapidly contain the outbreak in Mubi North and South local government areas of Adamawa state,

WHO representative to Nigeria, Wondimagegnehu Alemu has this to say:

“We have swiftly deployed technical staff to coordinate partners’ response to the current outbreak, support case management, surveillance  and contact tracing of suspected cases to guide interventions and ensure that the outbreak does not spread to other locations,
The transmission rate of the ongoing cholera outbreak in Adamawa state is indeed worrisome,”

“Notwithstanding, WHO is leveraging on its past experience and lessons learnt  in controlling major cholera outbreaks in internally displaced persons camps and host communities, especially  in Borno and Yobe states”

Adamawa state  Commissioner for Health Dr. Fatima Atiku Abubakar emphasized that her commission is collaborating with WHO and other partners to curtail the issue.

“In response to the ongoing cholera transmission in parts of Mubi North and South, we have activated all the relevant sectors including WASH, designated a cholera treatment centre  at General Hospital in Mubi North LGA and activated an Emergency Operations Centre to rapidly interrupt the transmission,” said Dr. Atiku Abubakar. “These efforts are already yielding results indicated by a decline in the trend of case fatality ratio which was 17% as of 12 May 2018 but reduced to 3% in less than 2 weeks”, she added.  

Cholera is a bacteria that can be easily treated but van also turn deadly if not treated promptly. WHO has been actively informing the community about the diseases, how it spreads and how it can be prevented. Furthermore, WHO has been actively coordinating surveillance in LGA’s, health facilities and case management to make sure the outbreak is controlled.

Adamawa is one of the most affected states from the ongoing insurgency in the Northeast part of Nigeria according to WHO Resources Availability Mapping System (HeRAMS)

Source: WHO