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It has been gathered that a strange disease broke out in Kano State in the Northern region of Nigeria on Tuesday, according to reports, three people dead and 284 others infected are hospitalised.
The outbreak is yet-to-identified by the state health officials Kano State Government confirmed.
According to The Nation, Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim-Tsanyawa, confirmed the outbreak of the strange disease at a briefing in Kano.
Ibrahim-Tsanyawa said the infected people had been admitted to 25 health facilities across the state.
Ibrahim also added that the disease, whose outbreak was recorded on March 10, was suspected to be caused by consumption of contaminated flavour and a brand of expired instant drink products.
The commissioner confirmed 284 people were infected with the disease in 13 local government areas, adding that 101 of them had been discharged, with 183 currently on admission.
According to him, the affected areas are Dala; Gwale, Kano Municaipal, Fage, Ungogo, Kumbotso, Tarauni, Bunkure, Rano, Dawakinjudu, Dawakin Tofa, Gwarzo and Danbatta.
“The index is a six-year-old girl, who developed abdominal pain, vomiting, jaundice and urine with blood (hematuria) after drinking water bought from a vendor.
“The vendor was said to have sourced the water from a borehole at a cemetery in the metropolis.
“The assumption involves instant drink flavour powder and a variety of salt for industrial use (caustic powder).
“Water, blood and different instant drink flavour powder samples have been taken for tests to pin down a diagnosis, ranging from food-borne disease, food poisoning, Lassa fever, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, Chemical poisoning to Toxic Hepatitis,” he said.
Ibrahim-Tsanyawa noted that the ministry was still awaiting the results of sample analyses to establish the cause(s) of the infection and identify the disease and have commenced sensitisation and engagement with stakeholders to ensure people became aware of the outbreak and how best to protect themselves
“The ministry is working closely with the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the State Consumer Protection Council (KSCPC).
“We have deployed personnel and scaled up surveillance in the 44 local government areas of the state to check the circulation of the suspected products.
“The state government is providing free treatment for the infected people, while 13 others had been arrested in connection with the circulation of the suspected product,” he added.