No fewer than 12 people have died due to a cholera outbreak in Ogun State within one month, the state government has said.
On September 17, the Ogun State Ministry of Health alerted the public to the outbreak of cholera in the Ijebu North Local Government Area of the State.
The disease, according to the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, has since spread to Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South Local Governments, with 217 cases recorded in Ijebu North only.
She has now confirmed that 12 fatalities have been recorded out of the 246 cases recorded so far.
Coker gave an update on the disease after an engagement with stakeholders at the ministry in Abeokuta.
“Unfortunately, we have a report of 246 cases, and there have been at least about 12 deaths, which brings us to a fatality rate of 44.6 percent.
“This is slightly high for a state like ours because we are educated. And from what we found out, what’s actually promoting the cholera outbreak is the fact that there’s a high level of open defecation in Ogun State,” she said.
Coker warned residents to abstain from open defecation and ensure proper hygiene to eliminate the disease.
She said water sources had been contaminated by fecal materials due to open defecation.
She said the government had begun chlorinating wells in Ijebu North to restore normalcy.
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