The Oyo state government has issued health alert to residents regarding the two suspected cholera cases discovered in Ibadan.

The commissioner for information and orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in a press release on Saturday, said the commissioner for health, Oluwaserimi Ajetumobi, issued the alert during a visit to a private hospital in the state capital, where both case were being treated.

Mrs Ajetumobi, stated that, “The two suspected cases in Ibadan, which had been tracked down to a private facility in the state as male workers at a construction site in Lekki Peninsula from Lagos State.”

Explaining that the bacterial infection is spread “by eating or drinking food or water contaminated by the faeces (poop) of an infected person,” she urged residents to be vigilant and adopt precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the outbreak.

“Cholera is highly infectious and can cause severe acute watery diarrhea with severe dehydration, adding that It may be associated with nausea, profuse vomiting, and fever,” she noted.

Mrs Oluwaserimi stated that the ministry is working to ensure that the state does not record casualties from the cholera outbreak from Lagos, assuring that, “there is no cause for alarm as the ministry and other partners are on top of the situation.”

“The response efforts include; the deployment of LGA DSNO, promotional jingles in English and Yoruba running in different media houses, Immediate inauguration of the Cholera Technical Working Group, putting IDC Olodo into active mode for isolation and management,” she stated.

She also stated that other measures to be taken include: “reaching out to all our surveillance rangers at the LGA level to intensify surveillance activities, re-posting of cholera case definition on the platform of community informants for updates, awareness, and sensitisation of the gatekeepers and other well-established community structures.”

The commissioner, therefore, appealed to residents to “always drink water only from clean sources, practice good personal hand hygiene by frequently washing hands with soap and water.” 

She warned anyone with the symptoms against partaking “in self-medication but present themselves at the nearest healthcare facility immediately.”