Anambra State Government on Wednesday, said its surveillance and monitoring teams have detected no case of Diphtheria in the state.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike made the disclosure in a chat with TNC correspondent in Awka late yesterday.
Diphtheria is a serious respiratory tract infection, caused by strains of bacteria that lead to difficulty in breathing, heart rhythm problems, and even death.
Recall that the Federal Government had earlier on Wednesday, said it will reintroduce the mandatory use of face masks in 19 states including FCT, Abuja, so far affected by the diphtheria disease, as a preventive measure against community transmission.
According to the co-chair of the task force on diphtheria, and Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, a total of 8,406 confirmed cases have been reported from 19 states with Kano being the epicenter, representing 86 percent of the total infection.
A statistical distribution of the cases according to the states is as follows Kano – 7,188; Yobe – 775; Katsina – 232; Borno – 118; Jigawa -23; Bauchi -20; Kaduna – 17; Lagos – 8 and FCT – 6.
Others are Gombe – 5; Osun – 3; Sokoto – 3; Niger – 2; Cross River -1; Enugu – 1; Imo – 1; Nasarawa – 1; Zamfara – 1 and Kebbi -1.
The fear among the Anambra populace is that due to how itinerant the people are, many of the people may have been exposed as a result of traveling to the affected places.
Speaking on the development, the Anambra Health Commissioner, Dr Obidike said the State Surveillance and monitoring team have been placed on red alert, to report any suspected or confirmed case, noting that so far, no case has been reported.
He equally said the State health personnel in the state have been trained to be able to detect and handle such cases if they occur in the state.
“So far, we have not detected any case of Diphtheria in Anambra, according to the information we are getting from our surveillance and monitoring teams on group, which we have since activated and made viable.
”We have been handling this system of detecting outbreaks very efficiently and once anything of such happens, our teams will be on top of the situation,” he assured.
The Anambra Health Commissioner who described the disease as a highly infectious respiratory tract disease, said while trans-state border movement cannot be prevented, the people are advised to maintain high standard of hygiene and avoid actions that predispose them to the disease.
“These kinds of diseases are quite difficult to prevent from spreading because there is no restriction on movement and you know that our people are always moving from one place or the other in pursuit of business.
“So, we encourage our people to ensure that they cover the noses and mouths when in public places, maintain high standard of hygiene and for those who have like symptoms, they should seek professional health service from a qualified medical personnel,” Obidike said.
