Strange ailment kills eight in Kano
No less than eight persons have died in Dungurawa village in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State, following the outbreak of a strange disease in the area.
According to some troubled residents of the community, the disease, which broke out about a week ago, is generating panic among the people.
The victims of the disease, it was gathered, included five children and three young men, whose ages ranged between 13 and 25 years, while the children were under seven years old.
A resident, Mallam Suleiman Tafida, who lost three children, lamented that his third son died on Monday afternoon.
“My two children, Umar and Khadija, died last Friday and Saturday, while Ibrahim died on Monday. They all had the same symptoms and died one after the other. Umar died at home, while Khadeeja died at the hospital,” he said.
Another grieving parent, Haruna Abdullahi, who lost his daughter, said the girl died last week Thursday after she developed high fever in the morning.
The head of the ward, Mallam Dahiru, who confirmed the development, disclosed that the health department of the local government had been notified about the disease.
He called on the state government to assist them in tackling the situation “as the whole village has been thrown into confusion.”
A worker in the health department of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Council, who declined to disclose his name, also confirmed the death of some of the residents, following the outbreak of the disease.
Meanwhile, the state government said it had dispatched an emergency response team, comprising doctors, pharmacists and other relevant health workers, to tackle and contain the outbreak.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Garba Gwammaja, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday.
He said, “The Kano State Ministry of Health is in receipt of a report of the occurrence of a yet-to-be identified disease from Kurimawa village in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area yesterday, March 26, 2018.
“The government has sent an emergency rapid response team, which includes, doctors, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and disease surveillance and notification officers to the affected area to carry out a thorough and in-depth investigation into the cause and source of the problem and provide prompt treatment.”
The statement further said that the team had collected fluid samples from the victims while those in hospitals were receiving due care.
– Copyright PUNCH
