Cholera: Adamawa receives 200,000 doses of vaccine from UNICEF

The Commissioner of Health and Human services, Dr Felix Tangwani, has revealed that Adamawa Government has received 200,000 doses of cholera vaccine from United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF), following the outbreak of the disease in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of  the state. He disclosed this at a news briefing on Sunday in Yola.

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He said that more was being expected and those received would be administered on people to boost their immunity, starting from the affected LGA:  Yola-North, Yola-South, Fufore and Girei.

Tangwami explained that out of the 50 samples sent to the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Abuja, 30 samples returned positive for cholera, six negative, two undergoing  through the process  and 12 pending.

He said that with the outcome of the result “we  now confirm that we have outbreak of cholera in Adamawa”.

According to him, as a result of the outbreak, 12 persons died, six at the facility and six at home.

“An accurate diagnosis is what gives the basis of treatment, if there is wrong diagnosis, it may easily become deadly or fatal. And that is what we cannot afford to do because we were trained to ensure there is accuracy so that lives  are not threatened,”  he said.

He said the state government was doing everything possible to control the outbreak and Rapid Response team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), were on their way to give support to the state technical team.

Tangwami called on the  people to remain calm, and cooperate with health workers as they go around for sensitisation. He further advised them to ensure personal hygiene by checking the source of water they dink.

NAN/Wumi