Over 60 people mostly children under 11 years lost their lives in an outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis in Jigawa state.
Reports from the state indicated that there was an outbreak of the disease in the state some times last month where the case worsen in Nigeria/Niger republic boarder local government areas in the state.
Findings by Radio Nigeria in the state revealed that several people lost their hearing as a result of the disease in the affected areas.
It reports that some of the villages visited with high rate of cases which include Mele, Dungundun, Kanya Arewa and Dantanoma villages in Babura, Gumel, Maigatari and Suletankarkar local government areas, and also gathered that about 100 people lost their lives across the state as over 360 cases were recorded.
In an interview, the village Head of Dungundun, Mallam Alkasim Yakubu said 19 people lost their lives in Dugungun village, noting that the majority of the deceased were children.
According to him, the problem started in late April this year, but the outbreak worsen some weeks back while infection and death rates were high in the village.
Alkassim Yakubu further explained that, over 50 cases were recorded, and that 2 people were affected by hearing loss.
He pointed out that, the patients were rushed to Danladin Gumel health post where many were confirmed dead while some lost their lives at home.
Yakubu said, some of patients were referred to Gumel general hospital, as parents and their relatives of the victims paid medical bills at the hospital.
Also speaking, the village head of Mele in Gumel local government area, Bulama Mallam Yusuf Ahmad said 21 people died and over 30 cases were recorded.
The village Head of Kanya Arewa in Babura local government area, Alhaji Akilu Dawaki said, meningitis killed 19 people in his domain and recorded over 70 cases.
According to him, to control the disease, they established a local isolation centre and move the patients to control the outbreak.
When contacted, the Jigawa State Epidimiologist in the ministry of health, Mallam Samai’la Mahmud confirmed the outbreak.
He said a record available in the ministry indicated that 65 people died, 257 cases recorded in 18 out of 27 local government areas of the state.
Our Correspondent reports that, an international donor partners, Save the Children International is providing support to Jigawa state government in response to cerebrospinal meningitis outbreak in the state.
The NGO is also supporting the training of health workers and the provision of drugs and medical consumables across 17 health facilities in the state.
They also raise awareness, improve preventive and care-seeking practices and strengthen the capacity of community structures for early preparedness and response to mitigate future outbreaks.
SCI in collaboration with state and Local government stakeholders is engaging with communities across the 6 most-affected local government areas in the state.
COV/USMAN MZ
