Cholera epidemic hits Gombe State

An outbreak of cholera in Gombe State, northern Nigeria, has killed dozens of people, local officials said on Sunday. Worst hit in the epidemic is the town of Jero Musa in Akko local council area, where 11 people, including three members of one family, died in one day, they said. "At the moment we are compiling the report of those who died and those at the hospital," Abdulamid Ibrahim, chairman of the local authority in Akko, told reporters on Sunday. He said fresh reports of deaths and hospitalisation were still being received, and that his council had sought the assistance of the state Ministry of Health and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to combat the scourge. Cholera, which is endemic in parts of northern and central Nigeria, is often blamed by health officials on the drinking of water from unwholesome sources, especially ponds, wells and streams contaminated by faecal matter (human waste). Ibrahim said his council had embarked on a programme of treating water wells in the affected area. Local people were being advised to boil water before drinking it and to ensure they live in a clean environment in order to control the spread of the disease, he added.