About ten people have reportedly died from a suspected diphtheria outbreak in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, while three children died and seven others were hospitalized in Makarfi Local Government Area of the state.
As a result of the death caused by diphtheria, the state’s government has dispatched emergency teams to the affected areas to look into reported cases and take quick action.
Malam Aliyu Alhassan, the Local Council’s Health Secretary, stated that Tashar Na Kawu hamlet in the area’s Gubuchi Ward was the suspected location of the disease’s impact in Makarfi Local Government Area.
He said: “The affected victims were children, and the specimens of the victims were forwarded to Abuja for analysis. Those suspected of having the disease have been taken to the hospital and isolated for medical observation, and contact tracing is going on to prevent further spread of the disease.”
In a statement, Governor Uba Sani’s Chief Press Secretary Muhammad Lawal Shehu said that the state Ministry of Health had confirmed cases of the diphtheria disease in some communities in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area, and that the state government had already informed residents about the outbreak and ordered the Ministry of Health to send an emergency team to investigate cases and take prompt action.
Meanwhile, the Chief Epidemiologist of the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, Dr. Jeremiah Daikwo, has expressed regret that some communities in the state were refusing the anthrax vaccine that was offered. Anthrax is a bacterial disease that affects both domestic and wild animals and can infect humans, particularly children who may have come into contact with sick animals.
Speaking in an interview, he stated that their findings revealed that 17 people were infected, and “we are still doing contact searches to identify more people who may have been infected.”
