Cholera kills eight in Plateau

Eight people have been confirmed dead in a
cholera outbreak in Namu community of
Qua'an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau
State.
The victims were said to be among the over
7, 000 refugees fleeing from the crisis in
Nasarawa State who were sequestrated in
several refugee camps in the community.
Already, there are fears that the outbreak may
spread to Jos and its environs following a
prolonged shortage of water which has hit
some areas of Jos and Bukuru metropolis for
the past three months.
The shortage of water in Jos was said to have
claimed the life of an eight-year old boy, who
drowned in Gangare area of Jos last week
while in search of water. The situation was
said to have been worsened by an alleged in-
fighting between the State Water Board and
the Ministry of Water Resources over the
release of funds for the replacement of stolen
cables that supply electricity to the Laminga
Dam.
Executive Secretary of Plateau State
Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Alhassan
Barde, who spoke to our correspondent in Jos
on Sunday, on the outbreak of the disease in
the refugee camps, said that three other
people were on danger list at a hospital in the
area.
He said that the agency had been able to
contain the spread of the disease through the
collaborative efforts of PLASEMA, NEMA and
the Plateau State Ministry of Health.
Barde blamed the outbreak of the ailment on
poor sanitary condition in the camps and the
absence of clean and potable water.
The executive secretary said that through the
efforts of the Nasarawa State government,
most of the refugees had gone back to their
homes as the state government had assisted
some of them in rebuilding their homes
"By the time the outbreak of the disease was
discovered eight people had died and three
are currently in hospital. Through the
collaborative efforts of the Plateau State
government and the emergency management
agencies, like the Red Cross, we have been
able to contain the outbreak," he said.
Barde said that the various governments were
also collaborating to provide essential social
amenities to the camps, while efforts were
also being intensified to take some of the
refugee to their homes, adding that such
efforts had helped in reducing the number of
the refugees to less than 4,000.
Also, the Plateau State Epidemiologist, Dr.
Raymond Yuryit, confirmed the incident on
Sunday.
Yuryit spoke while receiving Barde, who had
gone to assess the situation.
Juryit attributed the outbreak to
overcrowding, dirty environment and the
consumption of unhygienic food and water.
Source: punchng