Lagos State clarifies claim on cause of cholera outbreak

The Lagos State Government has clarified its position on the cause of the cholera outbreak currently ravaging the state.

News reports had earlier suggested that the consumption of an unregistered tiger nut drink reportedly sold in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state was responsible for the outbreak.

The reports referenced an interview the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Kemi Ogunyemi, had with The Punch Newspaper.

However, in his reaction to the report, the Director of Public Affairs at the state’s Ministry of Health, Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, said Ms Ogunyemi did not disclose any conclusion of the state’s investigations into the causes of the outbreak.

Mr Ogunbanwo, in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES Saturday night, said Mrs Ogunyemi was misrepresented. He said various possible sources, including the tiger nut drink, were being investigated to determine the cause of the outbreak.

In the interview, Mrs Ogunyemi classified a tiger nut drink reportedly consumed by many of those who presented cholera cases in Eti-Osa Local Government Area as a significant denominator, noting that most of them confirmed they took the drink before presenting cases of diarrhoea and other cholera symptoms at the hospitals.

Mrs Ogunyemi said in the interview: “So when we noticed an increase in cases in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos specifically, we went there to investigate. We carried out a survey and found that the common denominator, which was one of the deadly factors, was a tiger nut drink. People who came to the hospitals all identified that they had drunk tiger nut drink.

Credit: premiumtimesng.com

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