Impact of Climate Variability on the Prevalence of Malaria and Cholera in Minna and Enivrons

Abstract

The study set out to examine the trend in the prevalence of Malaria and Cholera for 20 years in Minna from 1996 – 2015.The Data for the study was extracted from Medical archive of malaria and cholera of in-patient and out-patient cases on monthly and yearly basis in public hospitals and private clinics in Minna which was analysed using trend line analysis .The study found out that10,000 people were infected with malaria in 1996, 1997 - 2008 showed a fluctuating trend of malaria cases, while 2009 showed an increase and highest recorded cases of 40525 people infected with Malaria. It was also established that the monthly trend of people infected with Malaria indicates that people infected with Malaria tends to increase gradually by April at beginning of raining season and attained a peak at September before declining in November. However the annual trend of cholera cases showed that 1250 people were infected in 1996 which also fluctuated to a drop in 2004 and a rise in 2005 to 5062 people being the highest cases of cholera occurrence before it fluctuated to a drop in 2015.while the monthly trend pattern showed cholera with highest occurrence during the peak of rainfall in August and lowest in December. This study concluded that rainfall is the major determinant factor for the prevalence of malaria and cholera cases in the study area. It is recommended that government continues the awareness program on the use of treated mosquito net and sanitation to prevent and reduce incidence cases of malaria and cholera. Keywords: Cholera, climate change, Malaria, Rainfall, Trend