Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, has warned members of the public to avoid unregulated and unregistered beverages to prevent ingesting contaminated drinks.
Abayomi gave the advice during a state multi-agency news briefing and update on cholera outbreak on Monday in Lagos.
The commissioner said that history taken from the no fewer than 500 suspected cholera cases in the state showed that some of the patients indicated consuming some street beverages.
He, however, said that the majority of patients talked about other forms of access to drinks, including sachet water, bottled water, carbonated drinks, noting that street beverages were common in the state.
“It is what a lot of people consume on their way to and from work or after school. So, it’s not surprising that a few of our suspected cases referred to the consumption of a beverage.
“However, liquid beverages are produced in a batch. And once the batch is produced, it is distributed and consumed.
“So, when we go back to a particular location where they are manufacturing street beverages, we may not find anything at all because the batch that was contaminated has been completely distributed.
“My advice to the public is check the NAFDAC number of beverages bought on the street, if it’s not certified by NAFDAC, avoid it,” he warned