Aminu Ibrahim-Tsanyawa, Commissioner for health, Kano State, on Tuesday made known that three persons had been confirmed dead and 284 others have been infected with an unknown outbreak of strange disease, when he spoke to reporters at a press conference.

According to Aminu, the disease has been around since March 10 and was suspected to be caused by consumption of contaminated flavor and a brand of expired instant drink products.

He revealed that the affected persons were identified in 13 local government areas; admitted to 25 health facilities. 101 of them had been discharged, with 183 on admission at the moment.

The LGA’s that have been affected include Dala Gwale, Kano Municipal, Fage, Ungogo, Kumbotso, Tarauni, Bunkure, Rano, Dawakinjudu, Dawakin Tofa, Gwarzo, and Danbatta.

The state commissioner for health confirmed that a six-year-old girl began to experience abdominal pain, vomiting, jaundice, and urinating blood (hematuria) after drinking water bought from a vendor, who said, he 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 Toxix Hepatitis,” he said.

Ibrahim-Tsanyawa indicated that the ministry was still awaiting the results of samples analyses to establish the cause(s) of the infection and identify the disease.

The health ministry is working with the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the State Consumer Protection Council (KSCPC).

The state has deployed personnel and scaled up surveillance in the 44 LGAs to check the circulation of the suspected products.

Source: Daily Post

Image: Kano State Government