Benue State Government has confirmed that 20 persons have died from an outbreak of cholera in the state.
The state government also confirmed about 200 more cases in four local Government Areas including Guma, Agatu, Gwer- West and Makurdi.
Leader of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, National Rapid Response team working in Benue state, Dr. Ikechukwu Oradu, disclosed this when he visited the Deputy Governor Benson Abounu at the Government House in Makurdi.
Dr. Oradu said findings have revealed that the affected communities lacked portable water and were drinking directly from the river.
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He appealed for the drilling of boreholes and the building of public toilets for the communities to stop open defecation as well as the provision of Rapid Diagnostic kits for testing of cholera in the state.
The State Deputy Governor, Engineer Benson Abounu, said the Ministry of Health and Human Services has treated those affected since the outbreak stopping the mortality rate from escalating.
The deputy Governor, however, said that approval has been given for the construction of a world standard testing laboratory for Lassa fever, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the state.
