The Federal Government has provided states of the federation with safety measures to curtail the spread of cholera, News About Nigeria reports.
The Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
He noted that health surveillance must be adhered to in public places including markets, garages, schools, restaurants, stadia, and religious and sporting events venues.
Salako emphasised that the measures would help avert further spread and transmission of cholera, as well as aid in the prevention and control of the disease.
He also urged all Commissioners for Environment and the Local Government Chairpersons to support environmental health officers across the country to step up sanitation and hygiene activities through enhanced community-led total sanitation.
He maintained that the safety measures is to strengthen collaboration with the health authorities and other stakeholders in line with the one health approach of the federal government.
The minister added that arrangements had been made to support most affected states with chlorine solution or tablets, water, and food testing resources to avert further transmission across the country.
He also identified cholera as a poor sanitation and hygiene-driven disease and an acute diarrhoea infection caused by the ingestion of unwholesome food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae.
According to him, the disease remains a global threat to public health, affecting both children and adults and could lead to death if untreated promptly. He added that it is an extremely virulent disease that takes 12 hours and five days for its symptoms to manifest.
“The common early symptoms are frequent watery stool that is usually milky white in colour, nausea, and vomiting.
“Cholera outbreak is a seasonal public health event in Nigeria, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and often in areas with poor sanitation and hygiene practices.
“Extreme climate events like flooding are also contributing in multiple ways to the outbreak of the disease.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the global resurgence of cases of cholera, classifying the current outbreak as a “grade three public health emergency,” requiring a maximal WHO system wide-response.
“Nigeria is one of the 14 countries in Africa where the resurgence is being experienced,” he stated.
