The Borno State government has confirmed the death of three persons as a result of fresh cholera outbreak in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia, disclosed this when the Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebrayesus, visited the WHO’s Emergency and Response Centre on Friday in Maiduguri.
According to him, about 700 cases of cholera were recorded in Baga, Doron Baga and Kukawa in the past weeks.
He said that the state government in collaboration with WHO and other partner agencies had scaled up activities to combat the outbreak in the affected communities.
Mshelia said the state government in the past six months conducted vaccination to control the disease.
The commissioner added that the state government, with the support from WHO and other organizations, had also executed various programmes to control, hepatitis E, malaria, polio, measles, meningitis and other diseases.
Mshelia called for closer collaboration with WHO to enhance healthcare delivery in the state.
Ghebrayesus assured of WHO’s commitment to contain the spread of cholera, polio and other diseases in the state.
He said: “The current cholera outbreak was recorded in areas where vaccination was not conducted. The outbreak would be analysed to avert future occurrence.”
He commanded the state government for demonstrating the political will to control the outbreak and transform healthcare service delivery in the state.
