Nine individuals have been reported dead in a suspected cholera outbreak affecting two local government areas in Rivers State.
PulseNets learnt that the deaths were confirmed by the Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Adaeze Oreh, on Thursday, January 16.
Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt, Oreh disclosed that three fatalities were recorded in Andoni LGA, while six lives were lost in Akuku-Toru LGA. According to the commissioner, the outbreak stemmed from 41 suspected cases of the disease across the two councils.
“With the deepest sense of sympathy to victims of a suspected outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea caused by suspected cholera outbreak, because we, at the Ministry of Health, are yet to actually confirm that those deaths were from Cholera in Isiodun community of Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
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“However, the symptoms of the cases reported are in keeping with the surveillance case definition of cholera,” Oreh told PulseNets.
This revelation has raised concerns over the spread of the disease as authorities continue to investigate the situation.