The Lagos State Government has linked a spike in cholera cases in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area to unregistered tiger nut drinks consumed by affected individuals.
Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Health, disclosed this in an interview.
Recent cholera outbreaks in Lagos State have primarily impacted Lagos Island, Kosofe, and Eti-Osa Local Government Areas.
Upon investigating the surge in cases in Eti-Osa, the government conducted a survey, which revealed that the common factor among patients was the consumption of tiger nut drinks.
Dr Ogunyemi explained, “When we noticed an increase in cases in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area specifically, we went there to investigate.
‘We conducted 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 drinks.”
To verify these claims, the government undertook further investigations to test the drink. “We couldn’t just take their word for it, so we had to take that drink and test it to see what was in it.
“We immediately sent people out to look for those selling it so we could take a sample. We found empty bottles with a name on them, but we discovered that it wasn’t even registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, the regulatory body that ensures the safety of consumables,” Ogunyemi stated.
She added, “There was a phone number and a name on the bottle, and we started tracing. We did contact tracing, similar to what we did with COVID-19.
“We combed the area to ask people where they got the drinks from. We couldn’t find any full bottles. We only found empty ones, which were of no use because we could not test them.”
Ogunyemi noted that the phone number on the bottles was unreachable and that investigations confirmed the drinks were not registered with NAFDAC.
The producers had not followed the necessary processes to ensure the safety of their product for public consumption. “We traced it to that,” she concluded.
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