United Nations Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said 287,168 doses of vaccines had been sent to Plateau State to combat the cholera outbreak in Bokkos local government area of the state.
The state government in partnership with UNICEF and many others has commenced a vaccination campaign to check spread of the disease.
A cholera outbreak was reported in Bokkos, resulting in four deaths. Several others have been evacuated to various primary health care centres and cottage hospitals in the council area for medical treatment.
UNICEF’s vaccine security and logistics consultant, Abubakar Shafa, disclosed this at the Government Secondary School, Bokkos where he administered vaccines to students yesterday.
According to him, the vaccination is from age one and above and would last five days, including a two-day mop-up expected to cover all the communities in Bokkos local government area.
He pointed out that UNICEF was intervening because its mandate covers the protection of the vulnerable and with the outbreak of cholera, it was obliged to respond quickly.
Shafa said people had been coming out for vaccination with high acceptance, but nonetheless urged them to fully take part so that the disease would be eliminated.
The director of primary health care in Bokkos, Joseph Dashe, said there was outbreak in a community called Ngion, where two people were affected, including a pastor who died as the disease had gone to a critical stage before it was discovered.
“Afterwards, we took samples from those who were affected. The test results came back positive for cholera. We also took the specimens to the state for confirmation.
“Soon after, cholera spread to other communities, and six wards out of the 20 wards in Bokkos were affected.
“A total of 86 people were tested, and two were confirmed positive. Some others exhibited signs and symptoms of the disease, but not everyone who tested positive died. Two individuals died as a result of the disease.
“One of them died from complications related to diabetes. Though he was infected with cholera, his death was not considered to be directly caused by it. So, we count two deaths related to cholera.
“UNICEF then intervened and provided drugs, including rehydration solutions, zinc tablets and chlorine which were used to disinfect water sources, among other interventions.
“This is because cholera is a waterborne disease, typically spread through contaminated water or food, or by coming into contact with infected stool or vomit. Flies can also spread the disease by landing on food or utensils,” he said.
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