At least five persons have died following a suspected cholera outbreak in Gwagwa community, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory, with many others receiving treatment at some private health facilities.

Abuja Metro learnt the outbreak which hit the area on Monday has led to the death of five residents. Gwagwa community is one of the densely populated areas with mostly low-income earners.

A resident, Usman Abdullahi, who said he lost two neighbours to the outbreak, identified the deceased as Muhammad Danlami and Abbati Gambo.

Abdullahi said he learnt about the outbreak two days earlier, adding that the two victims were buried alongside three other victims at the community cemetery on Wednesday.

Findings by Abuja Metro showed that many other persons affected by the disease had been taken to three private health facilities in the community: Capital, Crown and Ngozi clinics.

When contacted yesterday, FCT Epidemiologist, Dr Lawal Lukman Ademola, said he was alerted about an incident in the community but said that the FCT Administration will come out with its findings after investigation.

He said more details regarding the outbreak will be communicated to the public within 24 hours.

On a visit to Ngozi Clinic, located near the community’s New Market, a nursing staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about nine patients had been admitted at the facility since the outbreak began.

The health officer identified the disease as a suspected cholera outbreak, adding that only officials from the FCT epidemiological department can declare if it is an outbreak after their investigations.

The staff member, however, said no death had been recorded at the facility as of yesterday, while none of the patients had been discharged.

A parent, Samson Okoroafor, who spoke to our reporter at the clinic, said three of his children contracted the disease almost simultaneously on Wednesday and were rushed to the hospital.

He said he took his eldest child to Capital Clinic, while the youngest was at Ngozi Clinic but had yet to secure a hospital bed.

“My third son is being taken care of at home by a nurse because I cannot afford to take all of them to the hospital,” he lamented.

Okoroafor said one of his children began showing symptoms of the disease on Tuesday, with vomiting and diarrhoea, before becoming severely weak.

Most of the patients seen at the hospital were also in critical condition, with some receiving intravenous fluids to treat dehydration.

A relative of one of the victims disclosed that his adult brother had been receiving fluids to regain strength.

Some residents who spoke to our correspondent linked the outbreak to the community’s water sources.

A resident, Isiaku Bello, said Gwagwa had been without running water for more than two months, while most boreholes in the community were not functioning because of inadequate electricity supply.

Bello explained that not every resident could afford to buy water from vendors, popularly known as mairuwa, who sell a 20-litre jerrycan for N300.

FCT investigates outbreak

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Administration said it has commenced investigations into reports of a suspected cholera outbreak in Gwagwa community, Abuja, following alerts received by its health authorities.

The FCT Epidemiologist, Dr Lawal Lukman Ademola, disclosed this in a telephone interview with Daily Trust following an inquiry, saying he was on his way to the community to establish the facts surrounding the reported cases.

Ademola said the authorities had received notification of the incident and were working to verify the information.

“We received the alerts too and sent the notification. As I speak to you, I am on my way there to confirm whether the information is actually true or not,” he said.

He said the FCTA would provide an official update once the investigation established what was happening in the community.

According to him, the Mandate Secretary or the Director of Public Health would provide confirmation within the next 24 hours.

“As a responsible and responsive government, once we have clarity on what is happening, we will invite you and notify you of it,” he added. (Daily Trust)