The death toll from the ongoing cholera outbreak in Nigeria has reached 40, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) warning that the country lacks sufficient vaccines to combat the disease. Despite placing an order for more vaccines from donor agencies, the delivery date remains unknown.

The Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, emphasized the importance of vaccine use and other preventive measures to curb the spread of cholera, an acute diarrheal infection caused by the ingestion of contaminated water and food.

In the last four years, a total of 139,730 Nigerians have been suspected of being infected with cholera, resulting in 4,364 deaths. This data was derived from an analysis of the weekly cholera situation reports released by the NCDC between 2021 and 2024.

Recently, the NCDC issued a public health advisory alerting the public to the increasing trend of cholera cases across the country as the rainy season intensifies. From January 1 to June 11, 2024, a total of 1,141 suspected cases, 65 confirmed cases, and 30 deaths from cholera were reported from 96 local government areas in 30 states of the federation.

The NCDC has been leading a multi-sectoral National Cholera Technical Working Group, which includes the Federal Ministries of Environment and Water Resources, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other partners.

The agency is providing support to affected states through risk communication, active case search, laboratory diagnosis, case management, provision of response commodities, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions, and dissemination of cholera awareness jingles in both English and local languages.