2 killed, as cholera outbreak hits Bauchi

Two persons have been reported dead following a cholera outbreak in Bauchi state.

The chairman of the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Agency, Pharmacist Ibrahim Gamawa, who disclosed this while addressing journalists in Bauchi on Monday added that twenty new cases have been identified.

Gamawa said, out of the twenty new cases, two died in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) and the remaining eighteen patients are currently responding to treatment in the same hospital.

While revealing that the 20 new cases came from four different locations within Bauchi metropolis, Gamawa pointed out that the affected areas are Danmar A and B Isangaya school, Hardo within Kobi ward , Makama B at Nasarawa Jahun and Makama A Gwallaga .

The Chairman assured that adequate drugs have been provided like ORS solutions and chlorine for disinfection that will help the public against this disease, and they have started disinfecting the whole areas in the state.

He however called on the people of the state to cultivate good personal hygiene.

“People should also imbibe the habit of keeping their environment clean and they should always cover their food items properly, and by doing that, it prevents the disease further spreading in the state”, he cautioned.

Pharmacist Gamawa added that, “allowing your environment to be dirty, not washing of hands before and after eating is one of the causes of the outbreak of cholera. If we keep a good hygiene, we should be able to do a lot of hand washing during this period by doing all this, the disease will die away the way it started”.

Gamawa said the agency has since stepped up sensitisation campaigns in the media and other channels to abreast the good citizens of Bauchi state about the presence of the disease and how to stop it from causing more havoc within and outside the state capital.

From Samuel Luka, Bauchi