Lagos State Government has identified an unregistered tiger nut drink as the source of the cholera outbreak in Eti-Osa Local Government Area (LGA), the epicentre of the latest cholera outbreak in Lagos.
Gatekeepers News reports that as of June 21, Lagos had recorded 24 deaths and 35 confirmed cholera cases.
Kemi Ogunyemi, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Health, revealed that a survey showed that all patients who visited hospitals had consumed the same tiger nut drink.
However, the drink was not registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“We found empty bottles with a name on them, but it wasn’t even registered with NAFDAC,” Ogunyemi said.
“We did contact tracing, similar to what we did with COVID-19. We combed the area to ask people where they got the drinks from, but we couldn’t find any full bottles. The phone number on the bottle was not reachable.”
The Government took stool samples and tested the water, confirming the outbreak as cholera, specifically Vibrio cholera subtype 01, the most infectious and aggressive type.
The highest number of cases was recorded in Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, and Kosofe.
Ogunyemi assured that the Government has intensified sensitisation and awareness efforts to prevent the outbreak from becoming an epidemic.
