Spatiotemporal Trend of Waterborne Disease in Enugu Urban, Nigeria: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Many water sources in Nigeria are contaminated with pathogens. Several towns have witnessed outbreaks of enteric diseases due to poor hygienic standards of available drinking water. This research was undertaken to determine the spatiotemporal trends of waterborne diseases (WBDs) in Enugu, Nigeria using retrospective records from January 2013 to December 2016. A total of 18,495 individual reported cases of WBDs were analysed. The analysis showed an increasing temporal trend from 2013 to 2015, with a slight decrease in 2016. Typhoid fever had the highest frequency (48.9%) followed by diarrhoea (40%) and then dysentery (11.1%). The highest (88.9%) incidence of waterborne diseases per 10,000 peoples was from Enugu North followed by Enugu South (62.6%) and least was Enugu East (44.4%). Highest occurrence of typhoid fever and dysentery per 10,000 peoples was also found in Enugu North while Enugu East had the highest occurrence of diarrhoea in the four-year trends. WBDs were highest between January and March and least in July. The months with peak occurrence of WBDs falls within the dry season. The importance of having drinking water in both quality and quantity cannot be overestimated as portrayed in this study. Drinking water quality in Enugu urban is very poor especially during the dry season. This suggests a need for setting up a modality to tackle challenges of limited water supply during the dry seasons of the year and to educate the populace on household water treatment and storage method.