Kwara government has alerted healthcare surveillance teams across the 16 local government areas of the state on preparations and preventive measures against any possible cholera outbreak.

Kwara’s health ministry’s spokesman, Gbenga Falade, stated this in an interview on Thursday in Ilorin.

Mr Falade said the ministry had commenced an awareness campaign across the state through radio jingles on the disease and how people could protect themselves against having it.

He explained that the ministry had taken some proactive measures to stem any outbreak, adding that the government would also take all necessary actions to ensure the safety of the citizens’ lives.

Also speaking on preventive measures against the disease, Tanimola Akande of the Department of Public Health, University of Ilorin, advised Nigerians on proper sanitation in the proper disposal of faeces.

According to Mr Akande, a consultant public health physician with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), other preventive measures include food and water hygiene.

He described cholera as an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by vibrio cholera, a gram-negative curved bacterium, adding that it is a potentially life-threatening waterborne disease.

The medical expert stated that vaccination remained one of the most cost-effective measures in controlling the cholera epidemic.

“Vaccination is one of the cost-effective measures in the control of cholera epidemic. Cholera vaccination alone may not be enough for controlling it,” he said.

Mr Akande stressed the need to take preventive measures, including adequate food hygiene, water supply, and sanitation.

He said there should also be an adequate surveillance system that could detect cases early and appropriate control measures, including treatment of cases.

The don urged universities and research institutes to provide technical support to various levels of government in investigating epidemics and controlling the cholera epidemic in particular.

He also stressed that the government should intensify efforts toward zero tolerance for open defecation, saying all buildings should have functional toilets or ventilated pit latrines. 

(NAN)