Nuhu Bile, the state epidemiologist at the Gombe State Ministry of Health, on Tuesday said no fewer than 54 snakebite-related deaths have been recorded in the state in 2025.

Mr Bile stated this during the State Public Health Emergency Management Committee (S-PHEMC) meeting in Gombe.

The meeting, supported by UNICEF, was chaired by Manassah Jatau, the state deputy governor and chairman of the PHEMC.

Mr Bile said that in the year under review, 1591 cases were presented at the snakebite hospital in Kaltungo.

He said the 54 deaths recorded represented 3.4 per cent of the cases, while others were treated and discharged.

According to him, the 1,591 cases recorded in 2025 were the lowest in four years, compared with 2,794, 2,594, and 2,189 cases recorded in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

Mr Bile said the low case numbers were not due to a reduction in the burden of the disease but to a lack of free and adequate anti-snake venom at the facility.

He said many persons had resorted to seeking alternative means of treatment because of the unavailability of free anti-snake venom, adding that victims only come to the hospital when cases become complicated.

For cholera, Mr Bile said 176 cases were recorded in the state in 2025 with five deaths, while Lassa fever cases were 14 with eight deaths.

Jibril Muhammad, a consultant from the UNICEF Country Office, Abuja, who led the UNICEF team to the meeting, said the meeting was part of the fund’s efforts to improve public health in states.

Mr Muhammad said the meeting comprised health officials from Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, and Plateau States.

“Almost all 37 states in Nigeria have an existing outbreak ongoing. The major one that affects most states is cholera.

“A lot of states are involved. A lot of casualties have been recorded in Bauchi and Adamawa states,” he said.

According to him, Gombe has been able to tackle the cholera outbreak.

Mr Muhammad urged stakeholders to always implement plans drafted to address public health issues in their respective states.

(NAN)