The recent cholera outbreak in Enugu has claimed fourteen lives, this is according to a director of the state health ministry.
Over eighty people have contracted the sickness since the outbreak was disclosed in the state last Friday, according to Boniface Okoro, the ministry’s head of public health and disease control.
Prof Obi stated that nineteen people were identified as having the symptoms, and that the ministry’s rapid response team investigated it and discovered that the patients had “sudden onset of passage of loose stool and vomiting.”
Mr. Okoro confirmed that 14 people died during the last five days of the outbreak, adding that most of those who were infected were taken to the Teaching University Hospital of Parklane, Enugu State for medical treatment.
He said, “Seven persons died initially on Saturday, but as of Monday, seven more deaths were confirmed, raising the fatalities to fourteen.”
He attributed the cholera outbreak to poor hygienic practices around the affected place.
The New Artisan market, where the outbreak occurred, is predominantly for cattle sales with a huge concentration of people from the northern parts of the country. The environment of the market is squalid, report says.
A health expert, has advised residents to always boil the water they drink as no one can confirm the sources of water supplied by the vendors. New Artisan is also peculiar because of the activities of butchers and poor disposal of waste from animal processing.
