Seven individuals have died as a result of a suspected cholera epidemic in Kanye Village, Kabo Local Government Area, Kano State, while over a dozen other locals are hospitalised.
According to local health experts, tainted water from the village’s open well is the cause of the epidemic.
The well, which supplies the majority of the community’s water, was apparently contaminated after a neighbouring pond overflowed into it due to intense rains.
The epidemic was discovered after locals started becoming sick soon after using the water, according to Hafiz Ali Baba, the head sanitation officer of Kabo LGA.
“When we arrived, four people had already died, and several others were critically ill. We immediately instructed the residents to stop using water from the contaminated source,” he said.
However, a recent cholera outbreak in Kano has claimed several lives; out of over 600 recorded cases, health officials have confirmed over 30 deaths.
The Kano State Ministry of Health linked the epidemic to significant flooding in sections of the state, which polluted wells with floods.
The public has been reassured by the government that the impacted wells have been cleaned.
One of the impacted communities’ residents, Malam Bashir, has pleaded with the government to drill boreholes so that the community will have safer water sources.
