Six persons have died of cholera in Isolo Local Council of Lagos State after allegedly eating Abacha, a local delicacy.
Commonly
called African salad, Abacha, is a delicious Nigerian meal that is
native to Igbos. It is prepared from dried, shredded and fermented
cassava, leaves of garden egg, stockfish, castor bean, palm oil and
local spices.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, confirmed the deaths yesterday at a press conference.
Idris
told journalists: “The ministry was notified of an upsurge of diarhhoea
diseases in some communities in Isolo Local Council Development
Authority (LCDA).
“Following this, 45 cases were line-listed by
the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry. Six deaths were recorded among
the 45 cases. Majority of the cases did not present with the classical
rice-water stool, rather they presented with atypical diarrhoea and
vomiting.
“Ano-rectal swabs were collected from 15 cases and taken
to the Central Public Health Laboratory, Yaba, Lagos. Initially, there
were no growths, however, continuous culture yielded Vibro cholerae from
seven out of the 15 samples. The Vibrio cholera was later confirmed to
be Ogawa strain.
“The main suspected source of infection is the
salad called Abacha, a staple food of Isolo residents and adjoining
local councils. Some domestic wells within the communities are also
suspected. Samples of the Abacha salad and well water were collected and
sent to the Lagos State Drug Quality Control Laboratory for analysis.
“The
report of the analysis revealed the presence of Vibrio cholerae,
Salmonella species and Escherichia coli in abacha and one of the two
well water samples,” he said.
According to the World Health
Organisation (WHO), cholera is an acute diarrhoea disease with or
without vomiting caused by bacteria referred to as Vibro cholerae and it
is transmitted through ingestion of food or water contaminated with
infective faeces.
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