In the wake of an outbreak of cholera in the Kwalmiya community of Kanam Local Government Area (LGA), Plateau State – the state commissioner for health, Dr. Cletus Shurkuk has said efforts have been amplified to limit the spread of the disease, appealing to citizens to remain aware and report any suspected cases to the relevant authorities.
Shurkuk posited that, “Yes, we woke up this week to the report of a suspected case of cholera in the Kwalmiya community, Kanam District, Kanam local government area, and we have also mobilised resources to the community. Noting that from the assessment, a total of 20 people that were affected.
He also said “and out of the 20 people, we lost two of them. The remaining 18 were treated, and 16 were discharged, while two are still being treated. Hopefully, they will be discharged by today or tomorrow. Our teams are on the ground, working with the primary healthcare facility, and the drugs that they need have already been supplied. The investigation shows that the suspected cholera was actually what we suspected.
“So, we are also calling on the people of Plateau State to know that there is an outbreak of cholera in the Kwalmiya community of Kanam local government. So, we’re also calling on citizens to be on the watch-out and to ensure that they practice precaution and ensure that any water they use is well treated; if they don’t have access to clean water, they should ensure that their water is boiled before use.
“They should ensure that they don’t engage in open defecation and ensure that any fruits that they want to eat are properly washed. They should also wash their hands before they touch their food and ensure they wash their hands after using the toilet. If there is any community that has noticed any suspected case, they should ensure that the information is adequately passed to the appropriate authority because the patients that we lost, we didn’t get the information in time, but since we got the information, we have not lost any patients.”
He stated that his ministry was in contact with the State Ministry of Water Resources to take care of the water problem in that community because it was also noticed that the community has only one source of drinking water, which is a well, as the two boreholes in the community are not functioning.
The local government council was urged to fix the boreholes so that the people will have access to more water sources.
