Nigeria- Strange Disease In Kano Kills Four, Lands 284 In Hospitals - poisoning by undetermined chemical suspected

[Treyfish]

Strange Disease In Kano Kills Three, Lands 284 In Hospitals


The disease reportedly broke out on Thursday in connection with polluted water and local drink.

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BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
MAR 16, 2021

No fewer than three persons have been killed due to an outbreak of a strange disease that might have been caused by food poisoning in Kano State.

This was disclosed through the Director, Disease Control, Kano State Ministry of Health, Dr Bashir Lawan, in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday.
The disease reportedly broke out on Thursday in connection with polluted water and local drink.
....
However, a reliable source in the ministry who pleaded anonymity told The PUNCH that not less than 200 affected persons were receiving medical attention at various health facilities in the state.

?The ministry has designated about eight facilities for the treatment of the infected persons following the rising number of cases,? the source said.

While reacting to the incident, the State Commissioner o....
http://saharareporters.com/2021/03/1...-284-hospitals

[Treyfish]

Index Case Of Strange Disease Drank Water Near A Cemetery, Kano Government Says


He said the investigation also revealed that other individuals that came up with similar symptoms consumed prepared juice from instant flavoured drink powder.

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BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK

MAR 16, 2021

The Kano state government has stated that the index case of the strange disease, which has claimed four lives, drank borehole water from a place close to the Dandolo cemetery in the state.

This was disclosed by the state?s Commissioner of Health, Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, during a press briefing on Tuesday.
He said the investigation also revealed that other individuals that came up with similar symptoms consumed prepared juice from instant flavoured drink powder.

The commissioner confirmed that in the last 10 days of the outbreak, four persons have died while a total of 284 have been affected in 10 of the 44 local government areas of the state.

The local government areas affected are Gwale, Kano Municipal, Dala, Fagge, Ungogo, Kumotso, Tarauni, Bunkure, Rano, Dawakin-Kudu, Dawakin-Tofa, Gwarzo and Dambatta.
He said the illness is with ?a barrage of symptoms including fever, yellowish discolouration of the eyes, haematuria, abdominal pain, vom.....
http://saharareporters.com/2021/03/1...overnment-says

[Shiloh]

Source: https://africa.cgtn.com/2021/03/17/p...north-nigeria/


Poisonous drink kills 3, hospitalizes 183 in North Nigeria
By CGTN Africa -
19 hours ago

At least three people died and over 183 were hospitalized in the northwestern city of Kano after taking expired and poisonous fruit drinks, officials said Tuesday.

The Kano State commissioner for health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, said the outbreak has spread to about 13 local government areas.

While addressing the press, Tsanyawa said the incident occurred when the patients took expired citric acid powdered drinks.

He said the outbreak affected 284 people, adding 101 have been discharged from hospitals while 183 patients are currently receiving treatment.

The official said the ministry taskforce seized expired items that caused the outbreak worth over 59 million Naira ($143,993).

Meanwhile, the Kano State Health Ministry said the affected patients showed symptoms of hematuria which causes bloody urine, fever, lethargy, and sometimes yellowness of the eyes (jaundice)...

[Pathfinder]

Kano village in fear as 56 persons manifest symptoms of strange disease

Published on March 18, 2021By Muhammad Bukar

Fifty-six persons have reportedly contracted the strange poisonous drinks diseases which struck Gwangwan village in Rogo local government area of Kano State.

Residents of the Gwangwan village are said to be living in apprehension as victims of the mysterious ailment vomit and urinate blood.
...
?Areas affected by the outbreak of the disease include Unguwan Rijiyan Dadi, Gwanwan Gabas, Gwangwan Yamma, Unguwar Tsarmai, Gangare, and Unguwar Kofar Fada.

?We rushed no fewer than 30 people to the Rogo General Hospital within a day of the outbreak.
...

https://dailypost.ng/2021/03/18/kano-village-in-fear-as-56-persons-manifest-symptoms-of-strange-disease/

[alert]

I can't make heads or tails out of what "dansami" is either.

Published Date: 2021-03-19 09:20:21
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed deaths - Nigeria (02): (KN) flavored drink, chem poisoning, RFI
Archive Number: 20210319.8256123

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS - NIGERIA (02): (KANO) FLAVORED DRINK, CHEMICAL POISONING, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************** ************************************************** *
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Wed 17 Mar 2021
Source: Lutjadpad [edited]

https://lutjadpad.com/2021/03/17/kano-strange-disease/

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has revealed the strange disease in Kano is caused by dansami food poisoning.

NAFDAC director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday [17 Mar 2021].

Before now, it was reported an outbreak of a strange infection had led to the death of 2 persons and the hospitalisation of 183 others in the state.

The state ministry of health confirmed the affected patients presented symptoms of haematuria (dark, bloody urine), fever, lethargy, and sometimes jaundice.

Adeyeye described the incident as "very serious", adding the investigations are still in progress.

"The Kano incident is a case of food poisoning with flavoured drinks having a chemical called dansami. It is very serious because the food poisoning resulted in diarrhoea, vomiting, and hospitalisation," she said.

"Our zonal director, Pharmacist Gimba, is on top of this and our pharmacovigilance officers are also investigating what actually happened.

"We're going to do a lot of testing in the lab to know the nature of this chemical that probably led to food poisoning.

The director-general, however, said she does not yet have details on the origin of the flavoured drinks. She said though the chances of recurrence are minimal, NAFDAC is yet to find out if it approved the manufacturing of the drink.

"But our pharmacovigilance is already there; so once we discover the cause, we'll know what next to do in terms of arresting the culprit or bringing them to the office to know what is going on," she said.

"The chances of recurrence are minimal. But we don't even know whether the flavoured drinks are smuggled. We sometimes find out that manufacturing is not approved by NAFDAC. So, we just have to find out whether this particular flavoured drink was approved by NAFDAC."

[Byline: Sandra Chikezie]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED
<promed@promedmail.org>

[While the flavoring of the water may be involved, and while the water may or may not be important, there seems to be a consensus that the cause of this mysterious illness is in some way related to the water or its flavoring.

However, the agent named is 'dansami.' I have not found mention of this substance anywhere on the internet, except in news releases related to this incident. I cannot find this word in toxicology books, or chemical journals, or historical journals. It may be something specific to local culture, but I am unable to make the determination of what kind of product, chemical, or natural substance this is. Any information from knowledgeable source in the area will be appreciated. - Mod.TG

In a related article, the Kano state government has stated that so far there have been 4 deaths and 284 people hospitalized in 10 different
local government areas of the state. See https://www.channelstv.com/2021/03/1...range-disease/. -Mod.LXL

HealthMap/ProMED map:
Kano State, Nigeria: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/887]See Also

Undiagnosed deaths - Nigeria: (KN) flavored drink, RFI 20210316.8251547
.................................................t g/mj/lxl

[alert]

Not going to post this article because of translation issues, but this link indicates that "dansami" is very acidic:

NAFDAC approve drink wey cause 'strange sickness' for Kano? Dis na wetin we find out - BBC News Pidgin

Google also tells me that Dansami is a place name, but does not appear to be related to this outbreak. Might "dansami poisoning" be a short way of saying "poisoning like they had in Dansami"?

[Pathfinder]

Kano strange illness: NCDC deploys National Rapid Response Team - DG
...
March 23, 2021
...
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Kano State health authorities had confirmed over 200 people in 13 local government areas, including eight in metropolitan councils, that had fallen victim to the strange ailment, with four fatalities.

Ihekweazu said the state Ministry of Health reported a cluster of cases in 13 LGAs within the state, with the victims showing symptoms that included fever, vomiting, yellowish eyes and abdominal pain.

He said: ?We have tested four samples taken from these cases for Lassa fever and yellow fever at the NCDC National Reference Lab, but their results were negative.
...
?We are working with our sister agency, NAFDAC, as well as a toxicologist from FMoH to test for potential non-infectious causes.?

Ihekweazu said the agency had also collected additional human and environmental samples for metagenomic sequencing ? a method for detecting rare new causes of illness.
...

https://theeagleonline.com.ng/kano-strange-illness-ncdc-deploys-national-rapid-response-team-dg/

[sharon sanders]

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Nigeria: 2021 Lassa fever