Claims of Cholera outbreak are baseless, says official

The report which was investigated by the state’s Epidemiological Team, including the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO) and the LGA Teams in Lagelu and surrounding LGAs, stated that there was no evidence to back such rumour

Claims made among the Oyo Community about the recent outbreak of cholera in Lagun village were dismissed by the Health Commissioner of Oyo state, according to a report by Today Ng.

The claims were denied in a statement issued by Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to Government Seyi Makinde. The state Ministry of Health has submitted the report of its technical committee that investigated the claim of cholera outbreak in Lagun village, according to the commissioner.

The report which was investigated by the state's Epidemiological Team, including the Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO) and the LGA Teams in Lagelu and surrounding LGAs, stated that there was no evidence to back such rumour. After presenting the report, Bello said that the team from the ministry carried out an investigation to see ground reports, but they couldn't find any fresh burial or grave establishing claims of mass death. He said, "there was no evidence to back the claim of six deaths".

Bello also stated the report quoting, "the Ministry of Health received reports of suspected cases of cholera in Lagun Village on Friday, 6th of November, 2020. Following the notification, the state and the LGA surveillance network began intensified action at investigation and response, and findings from the field investigation are as follow:Ten (10) cases of diarrhoea and vomiting were reported to have occurred in Lagun Village by members of the community. Six of the cases were said to have died. But, upon investigation, no freshly dug graves were found in the said community and we only found two cases at Faith Clinic, Ejioku, and another two cases at the Lagun Rehabilitation Centre, both private hospitals."

However, the ministry had pre-positioned antibiotics and intravenous fluids at the state's health facility in Lagun to prevent an outbreak of cholera in the area, Bello added.