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Cholera Outbreak: FG To Activate Environmental Health Volunteer Corps

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Mohammed Baba addressing newsmen on cholera outbreak in Abuja on Thursday. 

In a bid to squash the rising cases of cholera outbreak, the Federal Government has stated its readiness to activate Environmental Health Emergency Volunteer Corps (EHEVC) in 31 States. 

The corps would be mandated to embark on massive chlorination of all sources of water in the communities with confirmed cases of cholera. 

Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Mohammed Baba stated this on Thursday in Abuja while providing update on interventions by the Council and Federal Ministry of Environment on cholera outbreak.

News Rider reports that cholera is an acute diarrhoea infection caused by ingestion of unwholesome food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. 

It is an extremely virulent disease that takes between 12 hours and five days for the symptoms to manifest. The common early symptoms are frequent watery stool that is usually milky white in colour, nausea and vomiting. 

The Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako had on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, submitted a memo at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the need to strengthen environmental health surveillance in the 31 states prone to cholera outbreak and also activate Environmental Health Emergency Volunteer Corps that handle environmental health emergencies at the states. 

Baba disclosed that EHCON as a key stakeholder in regulating environmental health is providing non-phamaceutical interventions, lamenting that Nigeria is witnessing another infectious disease outbreak.

The registrar commiserated with the victims and families who lost their loved ones during the outbreak, adding that cholera outbreak begins at the onset of raining season but environmental pollution like open defecation triggers the outbreak of the infectious diseases. 

He noted that as with other infectious diseases, cholera is primarily an environmental-induced and environmental- related infectious disease.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had on Monday, June 24, 2024, confirmed that 1,528 suspected cases of cholera and 53 deaths were recorded across 31 States and 107 Local Government Areas, with a fatality rate of 3.5 per cent since the beginning of 2024. 

Baba hinted that poor sanitation, consumption of unhygienic food and water, poor handling of waste and unsanitary disposal of solid waste are part of the environmental factors that led to the consistent outbreak of cholera.

The registrar stated that eating raw fruits and vegetables which may have been contaminated with excreta at the point of production or sale increases cholera outbreak. 

He added: "The major source of transmission of cholera is drinking of water and edible liquid like fruit juice and beverages with a container that is contaminated with human feces. 

"Our men are in the filed creating awareness and making sure that all water bodies within the reported infected communities are chlorinated so that the people can drink unwholesome water." 
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