In a single month, Katsina State has recorded no fewer than 118 possible cases of cholera.
In Katsina and Dutsinma local government districts of the state, there have also reportedly been two deaths linked to the outbreak.
At a news conference held at the Katsina emergency headquarters of the Katsina State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Kabir Suleiman, the agency’s director of epidemiology and incident manager, verified the cases on behalf of the agency.
He claims that in order to stop the spread of cholera and other vaccine-preventable outbreaks in the state, the agency has turned on its incident management system in ten local government districts in the state.
He said that 34 comprehensive health clinics with cholera treatment units had been designated, 102 new health facilities had been built throughout LGAs, and WASH facilities had been improved as part of the state government’s response to the outbreak.
Suleiman also informed reporters that the Global Taskforce for Cholera Control has designated Katsina State as a high-risk location for cholera, with 10 LGAs falling under this category.
In order to control the issue, the state administration has set up Oral Rehydration Points and distributed goods in each of the 34 LGAs.
Suleiman underlined that the state has a sophisticated surveillance system in place to identify cases of priority diseases like cholera, and that the state is ready to coordinate any outbreak.
He mentioned that the state maintains a regular surveillance system that looks for cases around-the-clock.
“The agency has trained over 3,000 Volunteer Community Mobilisers (VCMs) to sensitise women on personal hygiene and the importance of using sanitised water and eating well-cooked food. Risk communication jingles are also being aired to educate the public.
“While there is no current outbreak of cholera, the state is on high alert, with a rapid response team and surveillance officers trained to detect cases wherever they occur,” Suleiman added.
The 10 LGAs under red alert, according to investigations, are as follows: Bakori – 4, Baure – 8, Dutsi – 7, Dutsinma – 17, fatalities – 1, Ingawa – 2, Katsina – 5. The others are: 62 deaths in Kusada; 1 in Kurfi; 2 in Kurfi. Sabuwa – 1, Mani – 10.
