At least three people were killed and 35 others hospitalized following the suspected outbreak of cholera at Dokogi village in Nigeria’s Niger state, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Sunday.
The villagers had alerted the authorities after a resident died from stool and vomiting. An eyewitness claimed that more people reported their cases as the situation worsened, leading to the death of two more people.
He said the council later mobilized its medical personnel, including those of the Federal Medical Center, Bida, to control the spread of the disease.
Jacob Gana, the Chairman of the Council, who confirmed the incident, said all health officials in the council had been deployed to the village, adding that the only primary school in the village had been converted to a makeshift hospital.
“The situation has been brought under control as no further death has been recorded,” he said.
Also commenting, the Commissioner for Health, Isah Vatsa, said ministry officials had been deployed to contain the situation. He said the ministry would announce its official position on the matter after its medical team had completed their investigation into the incident.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholera, according to the World Health Organization.