The Death toll in the cholera outbreak in Bayelsa State increased to 23 on Tuesday as the epidemic claimed two more lives in Otuan, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

 

Eight persons were killed by the epidemic at the weekend in Osiama and Ekede in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state. The epidemic began between Christmas Eve and early January when it ravaged Igbomotoru II, also in Southern Ijaw area, killing 13 persons.

 

Governor Seriake Dickson hails from Sagbama area while the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Konbowei Benson, is an indigene of Southern Ijaw.

 

 

An official of Otuan community, who confirmed the death of the two victims, said they died in the wee hours of Tuesday, stressing that "several persons are down with the disease. Some persons brought (water) purifiers for us this afternoon but we hear that our neighbours, Enewari and Angiama communities, are also suffering from the cholera," said the source, who pleaded for anonymity.

 

It was gathered that the increasing number of victims was causing anxiety in rural communities most of which do not have any functional health facility and potable water.

 

A health officer, who did not want to be named, said the disease is caused by vibrio chlolerae bacterium through consumption of contaminated water and food which make victims vomit and stool frequently, resulting in death.

 

"It is characterised by severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and dehydration," he explained. Rural dwellers in the local government areas, including Sagbama and Southern Ijaw, travel for hours by water to seek medical attention in Yenagoa, the state capital. Last week, the state House of Assembly passed a resolution asking the state government to quickly dispatch a team of medical personnel to Igbomotoru II to intervene.

 

But the medical team had not carried out the intervention when the cholera epidemic hit Osiama and Ekede. The state Commissioner for Health, Ayebatonye Owei, was said to have led some medical personnel to the communities to distribute relevant drugs at the weekend.

 

Owei expressed dismay over the outbreak of the disease in the areas. He, however, assured that he would mobilise health officers to the localities to ensure that the epidemic does not spread further.

 

Meanwhile, no fewer than eight of the 25 cases of cholera recorded in Anambra State in January 2015 have died the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Akabuike, alerted on Tuesday in Awka.

 

Akabuike gave the situation report while receiving drugs and hospital equipment donated by a pharmaceutical company based in Lagos. He said the cholera outbreak recorded in Innoma Community in Anambra West Local Government Area of the state was already under control. The commissioner also said that a team of doctors and nurses were immediately deployed in the area as soon as the outbreak was reported.

 

"We discovered that it was not a full blown cholera but gastroenteritis common in children under five years. Gastroenteritis is an infection of the intestines which causes diarrhoea. In most cases the infection clears within a few days, but sometimes it takes longer," he said.

 

Akabuike said the government had also received drugs and hospital equipment worth about $2 billion from many donor agencies and indigenes of the state since the inception of the administration. He commended the donors for the gesture and pledged to use the items judiciously for the wellbeing of the people. Akabuike said the security measures put in place by Governor Willie Obiano had attracted a lot of investments to the state.

 

The commissioner informed that government had recently donated N428 million to mission hospitals in the state to boost healthcare delivery.

 

In her remarks, the Human Resources Manager and Operations of the pharmaceutical company, Miss Ruth Harrison, pledged to partner with the government toward the development of the state.

 

Harrison said the drugs were for malaria and cholera patients, adding that the donation was part of their effort to be part of the success story in the state.

 

Meanwhile, a report by international newswire, Bloomberg, said the lack of potable water killed more people in Nigeria last year than the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, which has held the nation's North East by the jugular since 2009.

 

By Igoniko Oduma

Daily Independent