The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaeme, said the state government has been able to curtail the ravaging cholera disease in the state.
Onojaeme, who disclosed this in Asaba, while briefing newsmen on how the state government was managing the outbreak of the disease, said cholera was a disease of national outbreak and so far, three outbreaks had occurred in the country this year.
The Health Commissioner, however, said the state had recorded a total of 138 cases with seven deaths since the epidemic broke across the country in February this year, adding that the majority of the cases were young children.
Flanked by the State Commissioner for Information, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza, and Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon, Dr. Onojaeme said the seven casualties were recorded during the first epidemic, saying no casualty has been recorded in the second and third outbreaks.
He said: “The signs and symptoms are basically passage of watery low stool, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, among others.
“The state has recorded 138 cases in Warri South-West, which is the local government it started from, and in the second and third outbreaks we had seven cases in Bomadi and one in Oshimili South.
“We have been able to curtail the disease in Delta State and the disease surveillance and notification officers across the state have been able to carry out a lot of advocacies to our people to educate them about the cause of the disease.
“Cholera is mainly a disease of poor sanitary environment and we have educated them about simple hand washing and not taking unclean water. We have also provided tablets to purify some of these unclean waters.
“So far so good, since about six weeks now in Warri South-West where it started from, we had only 20 suspected cases and majority of the cases we noticed we have treated and basically under control.
“We are doing a lot of advocacy and the risk factors are basically poor sanitary conditions and reduced stomach acid. Cholera has an incubation period of 12 days and within this period somebody not showing these symptoms can spread it through faeces and urine to other persons.
“Staying with somebody with the bacteria is a big risk factor to contact the bacteria from that person, so maintaining hygiene is very key to eliminating Cholera from our environment and it is common among villages along the water bank.
“In Delta State we have eight local governments that are of high risk, viz; Warri South, Warri South-West, Warri North, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Patani, Bomadi and Burutu.
“So far, the Ministry has curtailed the disease within the high-risk local government areas and the Epidemiology unit of the Ministry is doing a lot of surveillance on these patients and it is fully under control.”
