Twenty Persons have so far been recorded dead from the outbreak of cholera in Benue state with about 200 confirmed cases in four Local Government Areas of Guma, Agatu, Gwer-West and Makurdi.

Leader of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, National Rapid Response team working in Benue state, Doctor Ikechukwu Oradu made this known when he visited the Deputy Governor Engineer Benson Abounu at the Government House in Makurdi, where he informed him that findings revealed that the affected communities lacked portable water and were drinking directly from the river.

Dr Oradu appealed for the drilling of boreholes and public toilets for the communities to stop open defecation as well as the provision of Rapid Diagnostic kits for testing of cholera in the state.

The State Deputy Governor Engineer Benson Abounu said the ministry of Health and Human Services has treated those affected since the outbreak stopping the mortality rate from escalating.

The Deputy Governor, however, said that approval has been given for the construction of a world standard testing laboratory for Lassa fever, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in the state.