As of July 15, 2024, Nigeria is grappling with a severe cholera outbreak that has claimed 103 lives from 3,623 suspected cases across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The cases and fatalities have been recorded in 187 Local Government Areas (LGAs), with Lagos, Bayelsa, Abia, Ebonyi, Katsina, and Zamfara states bearing the brunt, contributing 83% to the total disease burden.
Despite the high numbers, the NCDC noted a decline in cases and fatalities compared to earlier months in 2024 when the outbreak first began.
Alongside cholera, a yellow fever outbreak has also been recorded in Ekiti and Bayelsa states, with three cases and one death reported.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, NCDC Director General Jide Idris provided an update on the cholera situation.
He reported that the cumulative case fatality rate for cholera since the beginning of the year stands at 2.8%. He said there has been a 5.6% decline in cases in the week of July 8-14 compared to the previous week.
He attributed the improvement to the efforts of stakeholders and favourable weather conditions in some parts of the country. However, he cautioned that the outbreak’s peak typically coincides with the peak of the rainy season, which is still ahead.
The DG said: “Whereas ongoing current efforts at the national and some State levels might have been yielding some results and largely responsible for the decline being reported, however, given the trend from previous years, we know it is not uhuru yet.
“The trend analysis from previous outbreaks shows the peak of the outbreak usually coincides with the peak of the rainy season, which is still some weeks ahead.
“Also, some of the northern traditional hotspot States have been reporting fewer number of cases, which may be connected with the delayed onset of the rainy season in this part of the country.
“Although almost all the States in Nigeria have reported cases of cholera, there appears to be an underreporting of the situation as required data from the states are not coming in real-time as expected given the trend in previous years.
“This is largely due to inadequate resources to support surveillance and disease detection activities at the sub-national level.
“Additionally this may likely be further complicated by the effect of political undertone for reporting cholera, which some see as a Stigma or disease proxy indicator for the inability of the affected communities/persons to have access to potable water and other basic amenities of life”.
He however assured that NCDC would not relent in its efforts to prevent and mitigate the disease outbreak, saying, “NCDC is implementing the national incident action plan for the response, intensifying efforts targeted at supporting states to conduct active case search, optimize laboratory capacity, with prepositioning of cholera management supplies and capacity building in anticipation of possible surge ahead.
“We have our eyes on the ball, as we continue to strengthen case management efforts to sustain the decline in fatality ratio until we report the global target CFR of less than 1%.
“Using the National Cholera Multi-Sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) we continue to lead the coordination, communication, and cooperation of all stakeholders involved in the national response. In addition, we have deployed national rapid response teams (NRRT) to the top 6 states contributing about 83% of cases.
“The States are Lagos, Bayelsa, Abia, Ebonyi, Katsina and Zamfara States and plans are in place to deploy to more states, to strengthen surveillance system, improve case management, infection prevention and control and community engagement towards building community resilience.
“We continue to monitor the trends and will escalate the required support as the situation demands”.