Nine persons have died of cholera in Akpoha, a community in Afikpo North council of Ebonyi State.

Also, over 30 others from the area are being treated of the disease in various hospitals in the state.

The state government’s Rapid Response Team has been dispatched to the community to help bring the outbreak under control.

Chairman of the local government, Uchenna Ibiam, led the team which comprised staff of the state Ministry of Health and that of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to the community.

Addressing the community, the council boss urged the people not to panic.

He commended the state government for responding promptly especially in sending Rapid Response Team to assist Health Workers at Akpoha in containing the situation.

He further used the residents of the area to adhere strictly to medical advice form health professional to stem the outbreak.

Mr Ibiam who took time to visit the victims at the various Health facilities at Akpoha promised to drill four solar boreholes within two weeks (two per ward) to enable them have access to clean water.

Ibiam said that his visit was to serve as psychological therapy to the people of the area and to rekindle their hope towards the administration’s readiness for humanitarian interventions to save their children from the cholera pandemic and other diseases.

The chairman also gave out some relief materials including mattresses, disinfectants and cash to the people.

The latest incident comes three weeks after a similar incident in Ezillo community in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state which claimed five lives

A health specialist in the state Ministry of Health, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the incessant outbreaks in the state to open defecation and lack ofpotable water in most rural communities of the state.

He urged the state government to find lasting solution to the perennial water scarcity in the state and embark on construction of toilet facilities in rural communities.

He noted that the lives of innocent Ebonyi people are at risk because of government’s failure to provide basic amenities. (The Nation)

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