Adamawa govt declares end of cholera

From Umar Dankano,Yola

The Adamawa state government has announced end of cholera outbreak in the state with no single suspected case at the moment.

Commissioner of Health,Professor Isa Abdullahi made the official declaration at a press briefing in Yola Thursday, saying that no suspected case despite weeks of ‘heightened’ surveillance.

Abdullahi stated that the achievements were recorded with assiduous support and cooperation from development partners, noting that  initially the disease had affected 1,959 people and resulted in 55 deaths in the state.

Abdullahi  recalled that cholera outbreak was declared in July last year, and that in the succeeding months, there occurred a total of 1,959 suspected cholera cases.

 “Since we have not recorded any case despite heightened surveillance for cholera for several weeks, we (government and partners) are happy to declare the cholera outbreak over.

“Since the beginning of the outbreak, a total of 1,959 suspected cases with 55 deaths were recorded.”

The commissioner cautioned however, that the declaration of end of cholera does not suggest a time to relax.

“It is a window of opportunity to heighten our preparedness against cholera and other vaccines preventable diseases,” he said.

While cautioning that declaration of end of cholera does not suggest a time to relax,Professor Abdullahi thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Rescue Committee (IRC), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and other organisations for their collaborations in arresting the disease.