Five Die While Transporting Cholera Patient's Remains As Outbreak Tears Through Nigeria

A Nigerian village has been thrown into panic after five people mysteriously fell ill and died while transporting the corpse of a cholera victim from Lagos to Sokoto State for interment this week.

The body reportedly belonged to a man who died from the waterborne disease in Ojota, where he was working as a scavenger, according to News Nigeria.

Following his death, members of the Sokoto community rallied together and decided to take his corpse to his hometown, Sanyinna, in Tambuwal for burial, chartering a bus to Sokoto.

However, one by one, the group of 10 mourners became sick. Five of them died before arriving at their destination. The remaining five are now undergoing treatment at the Sanyinna Primary Health Centre as the cholera outbreak rips through Nigeria.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has released its recent Cholera Situation epidemiological report on its official website on Monday, with Nigeria's cholera cases breaching 65,145 of reported suspected infections, where 51 percent are males while 49 percent are females.

The latest data reveals 2,141 deaths or 3.3 percent of the cases across the country as of Sept. 2, 2021, but indicates a 62 percent decrease in the number of new suspected cases from 3,098 to 2,127 just a week apart.

Last month, Nigeria logged 37,819 suspected cholera infections with 1,178 deaths in 23 states, including Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, and Sokoto.

Cases were also reported in Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross River, Niger, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Yobe, Kwara, Enugu, Adamawa, Katsina, Borno, Taraba, and the FCT, according to NCDC Director-General Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu.

The risk of Cholera transmission is higher in areas where there is poor sanitation and disruption of clean water supply, according to Vanguard News Nigeria.

Unsanitary refuse disposal and practices such as open defecation pose a great risk to the safety of water used for drinking and personal use, leading to the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

The disease, while preventable and treatable, can turn deadly if patients are not given immediate medical attention.