Photo taken on Oct. 9, 2022 shows flooded houses in the Ahoada West area of Rivers state, south Nigeria. (NAN via Xinhua)
Health authorities in Nigeria's southern state of Anambra on Thursday expressed fear over a possible outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases in the state following recent devastating floods in the region.
LAGOS, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Nigeria's southern state of Anambra on Thursday expressed fear over a possible outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases in the state following recent devastating floods in the region.
Speaking at a press briefing Thursday in Awka, the state capital, Chioma Ezenyimulu, head of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said the flood disaster in seven out of the 21 local government areas of the state had heightened fears of a possible outbreak of cholera and other diseases.
"We are worried that with the devastating flood disaster, the state might witness cholera and other infectious diseases," Ezenyimulu said.
Photo taken on Oct. 6, 2022 shows flooded houses in the Sagbama local government area of Bayelsa state, south Nigeria. (NAN via Xinhua)
The health official urged the public to observe good hygiene and keep the environment clean to avoid any outbreak.
Cholera is a highly virulent disease, characterized in its most severe form by the sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea that can lead to death by severe dehydration.
Parts of Nigeria have been hit hard by floods during the rainy season this year, with at least 603 people killed and more than 1.3 million people displaced so far by flood disasters across the country, said Sadiya Farouq, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, at a press conference in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, Sunday. ■
