Cholera Spreads To Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Afflicts 25 Inmates

The Lagos State Government has confirmed that a small outbreak of 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis, which occurred at the Kirikiri Medium security prison, is caused by cholera.

This comes as the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, announced a significant improvement in daily cholera cases from the spike reported two weeks ago.

This is contained in a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Director, Public Affairs, at the Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMoH), Mr Tunbosun Ogunbanwo. Abayomi, who disclosed this in the statement, added that urgent medical and environmental intervention measures have been implemented at the prison area with success.

His words: “We were able to supply Kirikiri Medium Prison with intravenous fluids, infection prevention, and other health consumables. Additionally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated 10,000 doses of pharmaceuticals which have been delivered to the prison to support prison health facilities with prevention strategies for about 3,200 inmates if required.

“Immediate water and sanitation issues have been corrected and there are ongoing inspections of other correctional facilities in the State.” On the improvement being currently reported in Lagos with regard to reduced cases, Abayomi acknowledged evidence of ongoing low-grade community transmission, because few cases are still presenting to hospitals.

Abayomi spoke while providing an update on the cholera outbreak during the “One Health” Inter-governmental agency strategic meeting held over the weekend. He revealed that although no new cholera-related deaths have been reported in the last 72 hours, the government was intensifying countermeasures to completely eliminate transmission.

Abayomi noted that the reduction in new daily cases and the absence of new deaths indicate interventions are bearing dividends, but more importantly that residents are adhering to public health information and advice on safety measures and need for early presentation to health facilities when symptoms develop.

Addressing the source of the original outbreak two weeks ago, the professor disclosed that it has been traced to unregulated street beverages and contaminated water supply. He explained that many of the samples taken from popular street beverages purchased by undercover environmental officers from the Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Ministry of Health in the affected areas confirmed the presence of vibrio cholera bacteria, which is the cause of cholera.

“All of the containers had no NAFDAC accreditation numbers, indicating they are small cottage backyard informal production units. Identifying the precise location of manufacture has proven difficult and the directorate of environmental health is planning to seal any such unregulated manufacture, and make arrests of anybody involved in manufacturing or distribution of beverages without NAFDAC numbers,” Abayomi said.

He noted that the state government through its interagency, One Health, approach is enforcing environmental health countermeasures in collaboration with Lagos Water Corporation and sanitation agencies (LAWMA and LASWAMO) to ensure widespread sanitation activities, inspection and disinfection of boreholes, supplying of potable water to affected local governments, and enforcement and stricter regulations on local beverage manufacturers, adding:

“Henceforth and as approved by the governor, a George Akume for his giant strides towards ensuring a united Nigeria and Benue State in particular describing him as an institution that cannot be deleted from the country’s constitution.

“You cannot delete the constitution you can only amend, but when you amend you cannot leave the laws that existed it must be there.

“In Benue State, Senator George Akume is the leader of all of us including Governor Hyacinth Alia, we are the children of Senator George Akume.

He has built the APC in the state, built a lot of the people including the governor and all of us and he has no challenge and any time the Senator is ready to support President Bola Tinubu come 2027 and we are ready and proud to be with him,” he said.

Dr. Byuan implored Nigerians to pray for the President and Senator Akume to succeed in the onerous task of driving the country to the next level of development. higher sanitary and regulatory standard of eateries, food handlers, beverage manufacturers, and groundwater will be implemented and enforced to curb the burden of food and water-borne diseases in Lagos.”

As Nigeria grapples with a surging cholera outbreak, available data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has shown that 31 states have so far recorded 528 confirmed cases. Of these, 53 deaths were recorded in no fewer than 117 local governments.

However, the three tiers of government and their partners have been employing proactive measures to tame the outbreak and prevent it from spreading.

President Bola Tinubu has since approved the establishment of a multi-sectorial cabinet committee on the control of the epidemic, headed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate.

In Katsina, the state government said it has recorded 118 suspected cases of which two were confirmed, disclosing that it was putting in place proactive measures to curtail possible outbreak of the disease.