The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA); has said cholera has been declared in Yobe state by health ministry, two weeks after being declared in neighbouring Borno, killing 97 people. The UN agency’s Head of Communication, Samantha Newport; in a statement released in Maiduguri; disclosed that the cumulative recorded cases of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) in the two states currently stood at 3,126. According to her, a total of 989 cases of suspected cholera were recorded in five councils of Yobe state She explained that out of the reported cases, there was a death toll of 61, as of September 29, 2018, representing a case fatality rate of 6.2 per cent. She said; while in Borno state, there were 2,137 cases of suspected cholera, recorded in eight councils. This, according to Newport, included 36 deaths with fatality rate of 1.6 per cent, as on September 20, 2018. She however noted that the key challenge in the state, is poor accessibility to some of the affected councils and lack of communication networks in insurgency affected communities of Gulani and Gujba. On preventative measures, she said: “Health partners and community mobilisers have visited thousands of households in both states in recent days as part of the active case search. “The search was to encourage individuals with cholera-like symptoms to be screened before it further spread to other communities.” She said in in Borno, a 100-bed Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) is operational in Dala (a of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Magumeri Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU). The treatment unit, according to her, is operating from an existing health facility. She said another treatment centre with 20-bed capacity, in Dalaram locality (in MMC) has also been set up. On cholera situation in Yobe, Newport said: “It is dire, and more facilities are required to deal with the outbreak. “There is currently a CTU in Damaturu, the state capital, and a new CTU has been established in the General Hospital in Damagum. She further disclosed that humanitarian organisations are working to dislodge and repair latrines in the affected camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); where the risk of transmission is high due to congested living conditions. “The State Ministry of Health, with the support of humanitarian partners, is coordinating the response through the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC),” she assured.
