15 feared dead as ‘ Cholera’ outbreak hits Ogun
State govt says it’s gastroenteritis, only two died
NO fewer than 15 people have been reportedly killed in a Cholera outbreak in Magboro, Obafemi- Owode Local Council of Ogun State.
The outbreak was reported to have occurred in Arepo, Akeran, Akintonde, Sofolarin and Abule- Oko communities of Magboro, creating panic among the residents.
Chairman of the Community Development Association ( CDA) in Magboro, Oluwasegun Oladosu, told journalists yesterday that 15 deaths had been recorded.
Oladosu disclosed that about 10 people who relocated from the community to Kara ( settlement) have equally died of the outbreak.
He added that commercial motorcyclists ( Okada riders) who are of northern extraction were most hit by the outbreak.
Oladosu said that some of the Okada riders had just returned from a trip and probably might have been infected with Cholera.
According to him, an eight- year- old girl battling cholera has just been rushed to the community clinic for treatment.
He disclosed that a government team had visited the community and provided drugs for Cholera treatment and prevention.
Oladosu, therefore, urged the government to always enforce sanitation in the Hausa community, which he labelled “unkept.”
BUT reacting, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, debunked the report, saying the state was yet to ascertain if the outbreak was cholera or not.
The commissioner said there was a gastroenteritis outbreak in the area “but the government is yet to establish the cause of the gastroenteritis. We haven’t got any sample, so we don’t know if it’s Cholera or not.
“There are one or two mortalities, but they are not 25 people. The incident is completely over- rated.”
Coker said that the state had set up a treatment centre in the area, adding that disease, notification and surveillance officers, as well as medical officers from the state Ministry of Health are currently on ground to deal with the situation and investigate the cause of the outbreak.