In 2021, Nigeria lost no fewer than 3,604 people to cholera, says the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the nation’s infectious disease agency.
The data, which was released by the disease center on Sunday for Week 52, which covers December 27 to January 2, indicated that Nigeria in 2021 experienced one of the worst cholera outbreaks in many years.
According to the report that closed the epidemiological cycle for 2021, Nigeria, in the year. recorded a total of 111,662 suspected cases of cholera.
The death toll from the diarrheal disease for the year exceeds the 3,103 deaths recorded from the coronavirus pandemic since its outbreak in Nigeria in February 2020.
Statistics have shown that cholera is endemic in Nigeria, with outbreaks reported since the 1970s.
But the 2021 cholera outbreak, with a higher case fatality rate (3.2%) than the previous four years, is compounded by the government’s focus on the coronavirus and neglect of other diseases, including Lassa fever.
Statistics breakdown
While 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory were ravaged by cholera in 2021, only three states reported no suspected cases, NCDC data showed.
These three states are Anambra, Edo and Imo.
Some 435 local governments were affected across the country.
Nigeria’s northern states, where flooding and poor sanitary conditions increase the risk of transmission, are the hardest hit. The 19 northern states account for more than 90 percent of suspected cases.
Four states – Bauchi (19,558 cases), Jigawa (15,141 cases), Kano (12,116 cases) and Zamfara (11,931 cases) – accounted for 53% of all cumulative cases, NCDC data revealed.
Eleven LGAs in five states of Bauchi (four), Zamfara (four), Kano (one), Katsina (one), and Borno (one) reported more than 1,000 cases each in the year.
cholera disease
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacillus Vibrio cholerae.
The disease is spread through contaminated food and water, periodically reappearing in countries that cannot ensure access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation such as Nigeria.
It is a preventable and treatable epidemic disease. The number of cholera cases tends to increase with the start of the rainy season.
The risk of death from cholera is greater when treatment is delayed. It is very important to visit a health center if you have symptoms such as watery diarrhea and vomiting.
Cholera is endemic and seasonal in Nigeria, where only 14 percent of the population of about 206 million have access to safely managed drinking water supply services, according to government data from 2020.
Amid the fight against COVID-19 and cholera, Nigeria also continues to experience regular outbreaks of yellow fever, Lassa fever, measles and other infectious diseases.
In terms of the challenges it encountered in fighting cholera in 2021, the NCDC said; “Difficulty accessing some communities due to security issues; open defecation in affected communities; lack of drinking water in some rural areas and urban slums; inadequate vaccinations to cover all LGAs, districts and settlements with cholera outbreaks; inadequate infrastructure of health facilities and cholera products for treating patients (Ringer’s lactate and ORS); inadequate trained staff in the states for case management; and poor and inconsistent reporting from states.”