NO fewer than 70 persons were hospitalised in Ile-Ife on Friday following a cholera outbreak in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State.

Dr Funso Ajao, Osun State Director of Primary Health Care Development Agency, announced this in Osogbo on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Ajao said that the affected persons were  responding to treatment at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, where most of the patients were admitted.

He, however, said “as l  speak with you, the epidemic has not claimed any life and we pray that no life will be lost.

“Officials of the Ministry of Health have intervened on how to put the situation under control. They are in every nook and cranny of the affected area, doing the necessary cleaning and fumigation of areas where sanitary conditions are poor.’’

He gave the assurance that the number of affected persons would be reduced, following the immediate intervention of the health officials.

Ajao urged residents to boil water before drinking, ensure proper hygiene while cooking and to always clean their environments to keep the flies away and to avoid the spread of the epidemic.

Some of the victims were placed under the intensive care of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife; Seven-Day Adventist Hospital, Ile-Ife, Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, some general Hospitals and private clinics around the council.

One of the medical personnel at the OAUTHC, Ile-Ife, who did not want his name in print, said that the outbreak of the disease was as a result of unhygienic attitude of the people in the area.

The Osun State Commissioner for Health, Lanre Afolabi, confirmed the development.

He said that a powerful medical team had been deployed in the area from the state Ministry of Health, adding that efforts were being made to control the spread of the disease.

He explained that the disease could have been contracted from poor sources of water.

Afolabi called on the people of the state to, as a matter of urgency, report any case of cholera symptom to the nearest government hospital.

He also enjoined them to clean their environment so as to curb the spread of the disease.

The reported case of the epidemic in Ile-Ife now add Osun State to the growing number of states that have been affected by the cholera scourge and is the first reported case in the southern part of Nigeria since the disease broke out recently in northern Nigeria.

Other states that have been hit with the outbreak are Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Kano States.

An infection with cholera is often mild or without symptoms. Infected people may experience a rapid loss of body fluids, which can lead to dehydration and shock.

Other symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps, stool that has a characteristic “rice-water” appearance — grey, slightly cloudy with flecks of mucus, and a slightly sweaty odour. As fluid is lost, other symptoms can occur, including: thirst, weakness, increased heart rate, reduced urine production and coma. Fever is not a symptom of cholera.

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