Following the rise in cholera outbreaks in some parts of the country, the Katsina state commissioner for health, Yakubu Danja has confirmed that 60 persons have died from a cholera outbreak in the State.
Danja who stated this during his address at the Annual General Meeting of the state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association held on Saturday, August 7 said, the 60 deaths were from 1,400 confirmed cases of cholera in the state.
According to the confirmation contained in an audio recording obtained by AIT from the event, the Katsina Health commissioner who did not disclose the number of Local government Areas affected said the Government is making efforts to curb the spread of the disease in the state.
Part of the efforts Danja said, is that drugs have been purchased by the state government for distribution to hospitals across the state for the treatment of the disease.
He also added that health education on prevention and management of the disease and active case search and surveillance is ongoing across the 34 Local Government Areas of the state.
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Danja while urging the public not to panic, advised residents of the state to ensure proper environmental sanitation, frequent hand washing, proper food hygiene, washing of all fruits and vegetables before eating as well as proper cooking of food items.
The health commissioner, therefore, tasked food vendors to ensure that they cover their food items to avoid contact with flies, adding that, open defecation and ingestion of contaminated water must be avoided.
On the current state of COVID-19 status of the state, Danja said the state currently has 2,162 confirmed cases of the virus, out of which 48 active cases are receiving treatment across the treatment centers.
He further added that the state has successfully managed the 1st and 2nd waves of the pandemic, assuring that the state government is currently managing the third wave and there is no cause for alarm.
