There is a growing concern over the spread of cholera outbreak across Nigeria.

According to a health advisory from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the disease mostly spreads through direct transmission by eating or drinking contaminated food or water and indirect transmission due to poor sanitation and lack of handwashing.

Photo: Improper refuse dump at farm centre – front of Marhaba Cinema in Kano

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The symptoms are acute, painless, and watery diarrhoea, with or without vomiting.

Photo: Kofar Mazugal Junction, close to the abattoir in Kano metropolis. 

As of Tuesday, July 2, when the centre gave its last update, Nigeria had recorded a total of 2,102 suspected cholera cases and 63 deaths across 33 states and 122 local government areas since the beginning of the year.

Photo: Former Triumph Newspaper head office, now part of the National Open University, Kano.

Lagos, Cross River, Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, and Nasarawa are the most affected states.

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Photo: Former Triumph Newspaper head office, now part of the National Open University, Kano.

The NCDC emphasised that improper refuse disposal and open defecation practices are endangering water safety and leading to cholera outbreaks. 

Photo: Kofar Mazugal Junction, close to the abattoir in Kano.

Though the centre’s Director-General, Olajide Idris, urged Nigerians to adopt safe sanitation practices, SOLACEBASE observes that many communities in Kano still practice open defecation and improper waste disposal.