No fewer than 42 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Kawo, Kaduna North local government area, have been hospitalised at General Hospital, Kawo over a Cholera outbreak at the boarding school.

Unofficial reports say two students died before help could reach them.

Officials of Red Cross Nigeria, who were at the school in collaboration with other emergency organisations to put the situation under control, say the 42 students affected were diarrhoeic and vomiting as a result of their unhygienic environment.

As at the time of filing this report, health workers have been deployed to the school to manage the situation.

Officials of state Ministry of Health and the school principal, who are on ground, declined to comment.

However, Deputy Director, Disease Control Centre, Ibrahim Suleiman, told Daily Sun that he could only confirm 39 who have been evacuated from their hostels to the hospital.

“We have 39 cases on admission due to diarrhea and vomit. We are yet to confirm the real cause, but there is a lot of contamination around the water source the students are using, which may be a serious contributory factor,” the official said.

“Apart from these 39 students on admission, we are also investigating another 89 cases apart from diarrhoea and vomiting.”

A parent, identified as Ibrahim, confirmed to Daily Sun that a well, the only water source for the students, was littered with excreta because the overhead tank in the school was not working, making it difficult for the students to use the toilet facility in the school.

“My daughter was affected. The school hygiene was too poor. There is excreta around the well where these children are getting water from,” he said.

This development comes as the state government is trying to revamp its educational sector, with a concentration on boarding schools across, aiming at providing qualitative learning for Kaduna children. (Daily Sun)

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