The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has reported a surge in suspected cholera cases, with the number now standing at 10,837.
Last week, 198 new suspected cases were reported from Adamawa, Ebonyi, Borno, Kano and Jigawa states, the agency disclosed in its latest epistemology report on Cholera issued on Thursday.
Also, 15 new death cases linked to the disease were recorded with a case-fatality ratio of 7.6 per cent.
Adamawa recorded the highest number of cases with 131 new cases, followed by Ebonyi with 30 cases. Borno State reported 29 cases, Kano reported seven while Jigawa recorded the lowest figure with only one suspected case.
This brings the total cases for the week to 198 suspected cases and the new total cases since January 2024 to 10,837.
Findings showed that the cumulative suspected and death cases is lower than what is declared in the report.
The NCDC puts the cumulative cholera cases at 10,837, after recording 198 new cases across 5 states within 23–29 September. It also puts the new total death cases at 359 cases, after recording 15 new suspected cases.
However, in its previous epistemology report on cholera issued for week 38, which reported cases recorded between 16-22 September, the agency estimated that the cumulative suspected cases were 9,964 and the cumulative deaths were 317.
An addition of 9964 cumulative suspected cases with the new reported cases of 198 should provide a total of 10,162 suspected cases.
By adding 317, which is the cumulative death cases earlier published with the new 15 deaths, the total deaths would be 332, rather than 359 cases as reported by the agency.
NCDC spokesperson, Natty Onyekwelu, noted that he wasn’t aware of the error indicated and would review the report.
