LAGOS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's northern Gombe Sate has confirmed 41 people died from a recent cholera outbreak.
State Commissioner of Health Mohammad Umar disclosed this in Gombe on Saturday, saying the death toll had risen from the initial 16 to 41.
He told reporters that cases of the disease had also increased from the initial 233 to 735, with the Gombe Local Government Area recording the highest number of 124 cases.
He listed six other local government areas affected as Yamaltu Deba, Kaltungo, Billiri, Shongom, Balanga and Akko.
Umar said although the state was expecting some assistance from the federal government, efforts had been intensified by both the state and local government councils to control the situation.
He said his ministry's Rapid Response Team had been placed on high alert adding that adequate drugs had been procured and sent to all hospitals and primary health centers across the state.
The commissioner added that aggressive public awareness campaign had been mounted on how to handle food items and water to avoid contamination.
Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health recently put the cholera death toll at 352, out of the 6,497 cases.
The north of Nigeria suffers epidemics of diseases such as cholera, measles and meningitis almost every year.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea, leading to serious dehydration and can be fatal if not properly treated.
