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**Pathfinder** · December 6, 2022, 11:20 AM

Translation Google

Published on
2022-12-05 18:25:41

Bouaké/ 5 children of Kpo Kahankro die mysteriously, 15 hospitalized: The youth president explains everything

Kpo Kahankro is a village located seven kilometers from Bouaké on the axis linking this city to Djébonoua. It is the last village which comes under the municipal jurisdiction. Since the night of Friday December 2, 2022, this village has been in the grip of a psychosis. A veritable panic has taken hold of this region which has watched helplessly as five of its children aged between one and six died. While fifteen others are in intensive care at the Bouaké University Hospital Center.

According to the president of the young people of this village whom we contacted by telephone, on Friday December 2, the nurse from the Kongodékro health center and a community health worker carried out the vaccination of children whose age is included between six months and 5 years. This vaccination, he noted, extended to the whole area and was supposed to provide vitamin A to the vaccinated. Everything went well and nothing foreshadowed the occurrence of such a tragedy when, during the night, a little girl aged one year and over fell ill, which manifested itself in vomiting, diarrhoea, body gets hot and she becomes stiff.

Urgently taken to the infirmary of Kongodékro, to the nurse who carried out the vaccination, he provided her with first aid, prescribed a prescription and asked the parents to transfer the patient to Chu de Bouaké. Returned to the village to acquire the financial means to go to Chu, the parents will see the death of their little girl around 3 am, on the night of Friday to Saturday.

Time to bring the sad news to the whole village that other children are taken by the same discomfort. Two are taken urgently to the Chu, three to the clinic. Unfortunately, four of them die. They are Ange Mael Djah Kouassi, 1 year 7 months, Johana Konan Adjoua, around 6 years old, Gédéon Kouakou Kouassi, 1 year 11 months, Merveille Konan Amoin, 1 year 8 months, and Elie Sharma Kouadio Koffi.

Fifteen children are in intensive care at Chu de Bouaké. The brigade commander of Djebonoua and that of Bouaké went to the scene to inquire about the situation and probably open an investigation to try to determine the origin of the evil. Deputy Bema Fofama brought his compassion to the bereaved families.

SB

https://pressivoire.com/article/boua...-explique-tout

**Pathfinder** · December 7, 2022, 11:13 AM

Translation Google

Cascading deaths of children in Kpo-Kahankro: the toll is growing, 12 patients released from the Bouaké University Hospital

Published on07/12/2022 at 11:10 Modified07/12/2022 at 11:49
...
6 children dead, 2 still under medical supervision at the Bouaké University Hospital

Kouadio Kouassi Prince, 9 months old, died on the morning of Tuesday, December 6, 2022, according to his mother, K.Pauline. This brings to 6 the number of deaths caused by this mysterious disease.

While 12 of the 15 victims returned to their families, Kouadio Kouassi Prince increased the sad toll since the appearance of this mysterious disease in Kpo-Kahankro. With the death of little Kouadio Kouassi Prince and the release of 12 victims, there are now 2 children under medical supervision at the Bouaké University Hospital.

While awaiting the results of the samples, medical sources believe that the harm would be caused by the administration of a dose of vitamin A, the campaign for which was underway.
...
When contacted, the president of Kpo-Kahankro youth, Paul Kouassi, confirms that there was indeed a vaccination of children on the morning of Friday, December 2, 2022, in the village.

“Yes, currently, this is the key problem that is there. After giving vitamin A to the children from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., they began to feel sick. There was vomiting, diarrhea and the like. At some point, the child becomes stiff. We did not experience this before. But it was after the vaccination that we saw this, ”he underlines.
...

https://www.linfodrome.com/societe/8...-chu-de-bouake

**Pathfinder** · December 13, 2022, 12:01 PM

Translation Google

Côte d'Ivoire-AIP/ Belmonde Dogo brings the compassion of the government to the populations of Kpo-Kahankro following the mysterious death of six children

BY: ROGER KOUADIO WE: DECEMBER 12, 2022 IN: BOUAKE , DISPATCHES , SOCIETY WITH: 0 COMMENTS

Bouaké, Dec 12, 2022 (AIP)- The Minister of Solidarity and the Fight Against Poverty, Myss Belmonde Dogo, was on Sunday, December 11, 2022 in the village of Kpo-Kahankro (about 7km from Bouaké) to bring the compassion of the government to the populations following the mysterious death of six children whose age varies from 9 months to 6 years.

“We came with the Minister of Transport, Amadou Koné, to bring the compassion of the government and the President of the Republic to the populations of the village of Kpo-Kahankro following the bereavement that struck them. We have come to tell them that the government and President of the Republic stand by their side in this difficult ordeal,” she told the press.

These words of compassion from Minister Belmonde Dogo were accompanied by material and financial support for the bereaved families as well as all the populations of the village of Kpo-Kahankro. This material and financial support resulted in a donation of the sum of 6.8 million FCFA, including 5 million to the six bereaved families and 1.8 million to the rest of the population including the parents of the surviving children, women, young and village notability. The donation of food and non-food items to bereaved families is made up of bags of rice, food paws, cans of cooking oil and boxes of soap.

On the night of Friday December 02 to 03, 2022, the village of Kpo-Kahankro experienced a real tragedy. A little girl, just over a year old, died suddenly of an illness that was manifested by vomiting and diarrhea. Four other children, seized with the same malaise, also pass from life to death. The rest of the sick children, 15 in number, were quickly admitted to intensive care at the Bouaké University Hospital where a 6th death was recorded a few days later.

The toll of this health crisis, which occurred in the village of Kpo-Kahankro, is six dead. All 14 survivors have been released from hospital and are being monitored regularly by health workers. The Pasteur Institute is hard at work to determine the causes of this tragedy which has experienced the village of Kpo-Kahankro, we are assured.

(AIP)

https://www.aip.ci/cote-divoire-aip-...e-six-enfants/

**Pathfinder** · January 27, 2023, 10:24 AM

Translation Google

Twelve children die mysteriously in two months in an Ivorian village

By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted yesterday at 6:01 p.m., updatedyesterday at 6:18 p.m.

Twelve children have died of a mysterious illness since December in a village in central Côte d'Ivoire, AFP learned on Thursday January 26 from local sources.

In Kpo-Kahankro, a few kilometers from the city of Bouaké, " we recorded six deaths in December 2022, three on Friday January 20, and three more this Thursday, which brings the total number of deaths to twelve ", explained Paul Kouassi, the president of a village youth association. " The age of the victims varies between one and eight years ," he added, adding that the children suddenly start to stiffen up and vomit.

Support at the Bouaké University Hospital

François Kouakou Guié, a resident of the village who lost his 18-month-old granddaughter on Thursday, asked the authorities to find " the origin of this evil " and that they " put an end to it ", confirming the toll of twelve children dead since early December.

Two ministers had moved to this village in December after the first deaths, and some patients had been taken care of at the Bouaké University Hospital. “ We don't know what's going on. The government took samples from the first bodies in December and the results are still awaited. After the three deaths on Thursday, patients were again transferred to the Bouaké University Hospital, ” lamented Mr. Kouassi.

Reached by telephone, a hospital source wishing to remain anonymous confirmed to AFP that sick children from this village were admitted to the Bouaké University Hospital on Thursday.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/1...irien-20230126

**Pathfinder** · January 28, 2023, 02:30 PM

Translation Google

Bouaké: the mysterious epidemic resurfaces in Kpo-Kahankro, 9 children died, 13 patients at the CHU

Source: linfodrome.com
Date: 23 hours ago

A week after the reappearance of the mysterious epidemic which killed 6 people in December 2022 in Kpo-Kahankro, 9 children were taken away by the disease while 13 others are fighting death at the Bouaké University Hospital .

The mysterious epidemic which killed several children at the beginning of December 2022, in Kpo-Kahankro, a village located 7 kilometers on the Bouaké-Djebonoua axis, resurfaced on Friday January 20, 2023. On Thursday January 26, 2023 , this disease had claimed 22 victims, including 6 deaths and 16 evacuated to the Bouaké University Hospital Center.

The balance sheet has increased

Unfortunately, this grim toll worsened this Friday, January 27, 2023, with the death of 3 other patients, bringing the number of deaths to 9, according to the president of Kpo-Kahankro youth, Paul Kouassi.

Back from the Bouaké University Hospital , the day before, he had spoken about the first cases that appeared a week earlier.

“The epidemic reappeared from Friday January 20, 2023, with one case. The child died. Between January 22 and 23, there was another victim who unfortunately passed away. The next day, January 24, another child died,” said Kpo-Kahankro youth president Paul Kouassi on Thursday, January 26, 2023, returning from Bouaké University Hospital , adding that he had 3 deaths in the same morning.

"So far, we do not know the nature of the disease that kills children, even the first cases in December"

https://news.educarriere.ci/news-367...es-au-chu.html

**Pathfinder** · January 31, 2023, 01:24 PM

Translation Google

Bouaké - Pko-Kahankro epidemic: The government alongside the victims

By Team Afrique Sur 7
Posted on 31 January 2023 at 15:02 | updated on January 31, 2023 at 15:02

On Monday January 30, 2023, the Director of Cabinet of the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage, Dr Aka Koffi Charles, went to the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Bouaké to visit the victims of the Pko-Kahankro epidemic and provide them with the unwavering support of the government.

Bouaké University Hospital: A delegation from the Ministry of Health visits the victims of the Pko-Kahankro epidemic

Dr. Aka Charles , accompanied by a delegation, immersed himself in the state of health of the victims and then provided them with considerable support. Minister Pierre Dimba's chief of staff then assessed the response system put in place and ensured the capacity building of health workers for better epidemiological surveillance, informs the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Health. and public hygiene.Pierre Dimba

The emissary of the Ministry of Health sent the government's condolences to the various bereaved families. Since January 26, 2023, a health crisis has been raging in Pko-Kahankro , a village located 7 km from the city of Bouaké. Informed, the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage immediately sent a team from the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP) of Bouaké composed of toxicologists, infectiologists as well as laboratory specialists in order to carry out investigations and take care of cases and all the children of this village. In view of the work done, Dr. Aka Koffi Charles congratulated the health workers in person for their professionalism and the rapid treatment of victims to avoid the worst.

Yahafe Ouattara: www.afrique-sur7.ci

https://www.afrique-sur7.ci/491204-b...s-des-victimes

**Pathfinder** · February 1, 2023, 10:50 AM

Translation Google

Cascading death in Kpo-Kahankro: after children, the disease now affects adults, an incriminated fetish

Published on02/01/2023 at 1:20 p.m. Modified02/01/2023 at 1:36 PM
...
It is now psychosis in Kpo-Kahankro, a village located 7 kilometers from Bouaké , on the Bouaké-Djébonoua axis, in the Gbêkê Region. The epidemic which appeared in this village at the beginning of December 2022 and which killed 6 children repeated on Friday January 20, 2023, with more virulence. In the space of 12 days, this mysterious disease has claimed 14 lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 20 since the onset of the epidemic.

Minister Pierre Dimba on the scene

While the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage, Pierre N'gou Dimba , visited this village on Tuesday, December 31, 2023, after having sent his director of cabinet, Dr Aka Koffi Charles, to take stock, Linfodrome learned that this disease now affects adults.

While the last outbreak of the disease caused 14 deaths, 27 people are currently hospitalized at the Bouaké University Hospital Center. “Currently, there are 27 patients at the Bouaké University Hospital. We sent other grown-ups there. Currently, the disease also affects adults, “said the president of young people, Paul Kouassi, before adding that it manifests itself in stomach problems, vomiting and sweating of the sick.
...
According to the Director of the National Institute of Public Hygiene, Professor Joseph Bénié Bi Vroh, research is underway to find the triggering agent.

“There are several avenues that are mentioned. At the community level, in the plantations, people are used to using pesticides. Are pesticides the cause of this evil? We are exploring it,” Igbêkê reported.

He added that ''drinking water may be the cause''. “Because at some point, maybe there was contamination in the water or there was a product in the water. All water sources have been taken, including the village pump where they will get their supplies. It also has water stored in jars. But we are also exploring an environmental source,” he said.
...

https://www.linfodrome.com/societe/8...iche-incrimine

**Pathfinder** · February 2, 2023, 10:06 AM

Translation Google

Côte d'Ivoire: a mysterious disease kills 20, according to a new report

By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 26 minutes ago

The mysterious illness that has struck a village in central Côte d'Ivoire since December has killed 20 people, mainly children, according to a new report obtained by AFP from local sources on Thursday.

“ Until January 26 we were at 12 dead. On Thursday, the toll increased and we recorded 20 dead, including two adults " whereas, until then, " no adult had been affected ", declared Paul Kouassi, president of a youth association in the village of Kpo- Kahankro located about twenty km from the city of Bouaké.

All deceased adults are elderly women

This assessment was confirmed by other inhabitants of the village. Paul Kouassi clarified that the deceased adults were women aged 60 to 70, both of whom died in a hospital in Bouaké " after presenting the same symptoms as the first deaths, namely vomiting and diarrhea ". Thirty-three residents of Kpo-Kahankro were also recently rushed to the University Hospital Center (CHU) in Bouaké with similar symptoms, according to hospital sources.

Two ministers had moved to this village in December after the first deaths and on January 31 the Minister of Health Pierre Dimba went there to assess the situation, according to Paul Kouassi. Faced with the mystery of these deaths and awaiting the results of analyzes which are slow to come, the thesis of an act of witchcraft is put forward in the village.

https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/c...bilan-20230202

**Pathfinder** · February 7, 2023, 11:43 AM

Translation Google

Côte d'Ivoire: authorities identify a "mysterious disease" which has killed 16 people

Published on :02/06/2023 - 23:24
Text by: RFI

In Côte d'Ivoire, the health authorities want to reassure: the spread of the mysterious disease which affects a village in the center of the country has been stopped or in any case identified. Since December, 53 people have been suffering from convulsions, vomiting and diarrhoea.

With our correspondent in Abidjan , Bineta Diagne

Sixteen people have died from the disease , mostly children, according to the Ministry of Health , but today Ivorian authorities say the disease is under control.

Teams from the National Institute of Public Hygiene collected water samples, took samples from shops and cashew apples consumed by children who fell ill. The analyzes show the presence of a germ contained in the water of the broth of a chicken which served as a fetish during a ceremony organized twice in the village of Kpo-Kahankro.

A bacterium called Clostridium

“ The main bacterium that was in the broth is a bacterium called Clostridium. It is the most virulent of all clostridia and only a few nanograms of toxins are needed to show clinical signs ,” explained Mireille Dosso, director of the Institut Pasteur.

For the Minister of Health, Pierre Dimba, there is therefore no mysterious disease. It calls for vigilance regarding the products offered by witch doctors. “ What we regret is that these are not isolated acts. More and more, in our villages, we devote ourselves to the adoration of quite a few ecological niches that they ignore, with sellers of illusions who come to the villages and who promise mountains and sky. It would therefore be necessary, that from this case, the population is vigilant. I don't even want them to love these things, but if they did, you still have to make sure that what's available to them is something you can manipulate ", did he declare.

According to the Minister, 24 hospitalized people were able to return to the village, a sign, according to his teams, that “ the evil is under control ”.

https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/202302...-fait-16-morts

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EPIDEMIC IN KPO-KAHANKRO-BOUAKE: "THE DISEASE IS NOW UNDER CONTROL", AFFIRMS MINISTER PIERRE DIMBA

Abidjan, February 7, 2023 - The Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage, Pierre Dimba, said on Monday, February 6, 2023, that the disease that caused deaths in Kpo-kahankro, " is now under control.

Minister Pierre Dimba made this statement during a press conference in order to enlighten public opinion on the investigations carried out within the framework of the curious disease which caused deaths in Kpo-kahankro, a locality located not far of Bouake. He had at his side Professor Bénié Bi Vroh, coordinating director of the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP) and Professor Mireille Dosso, director of the Pasteur Institute of Côte d'Ivoire (IPCI).

The Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage informed the audience that an advanced care system was installed in the said village, from the first signal of this disease.

This device, according to the first person in charge of the Ivorian health system, composed of infectiologists, epidemiologists, has made it possible, thanks to the quality of care, and especially to the promptness in the management, to channel this disease and considerably reduce the number of deaths.

Pierre Dimba took the opportunity to extend his warm congratulations to the health workers who have shown professionalism, selflessness and resilience. He then added that to date, among the 34 hospitalized patients, 24 of them have returned to their homes after the above-mentioned treatment. With this in mind, he said without flinching that "the disease is now under control".

For his part, Professor Bénié Bi Vroh, coordinating director of the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), indicated that following the investigations carried out in this area, a germ was discovered in a place where a fetish was housed. settled in the village of Kpo-kahankro. He thus declared that 47% of the victims and 42% of the deaths linked to this disease would be identified in the vicinity of this fetish. And, anxious to shed light on this drama, samples, according to Professor Bénié, were taken and sent to the INHP for in-depth analysis.

According to Professor Mireille Dosso, director of the Pasteur Institute of Côte d'Ivoire (IPCI), the analyzes of the samples from the INHP made it possible to discover a clostridium, that is to say, a bacterium which produces toxins. This bacterium, according to her, is at the root of the infections that have caused several deaths in Kpo-kanhankro.

It should be remembered that this mysterious disease caused 16 deaths, including 13 children and 3 adults.

https://www.gouv.ci/_actualite-artic...recordID=14697

**Pathfinder** · February 13, 2023, 11:36 AM

Translation Google

Ivory Coast: the village of Kpo Kahandro traumatized by a mysterious and deadly disease

Published on :13/02/2023 - 09:32

Text by: RFI

In Kpo Kahandro, in central Côte d'Ivoire, villagers remain traumatized following deaths linked to a mysterious disease: 21 according to residents and 16 according to health authorities. Preferred track: poisoning linked to a product used by a witch doctor. Reporting.

With our correspondent in Abidjan, Bineta Diagne

In the center of Côte d'Ivoire, in a village near Bouaké, a locality remains traumatized by the appearance, in recent weeks, of a mysterious disease, which has killed 21 people according to inhabitants, 16 according to the authorities. sanitary.

The victims are mainly children. The Minister of Health assures that “ the crisis is under control ”. His department is leaning towards the trail of intoxication linked to a product used by a witch doctor. But on the spot, mystery and pain still dominate.

Closed school and empty houses: since January, Kpo Kahandro has been living in slow motion. Residents are trying to mourn. In vain. Dorothée Ahou Kouamé lost her three-year-old daughter. “ She was still having convulsions despite being given injections ,” she says. It calmed down a bit and then resumed. My little one died around 3:00 a.m. The body is still in the morgue, we haven't done the burial yet. I can't even eat properly, it wakes me up every time ”.

“ Many residents fled with their children”

Doctors and villagers point to a medicine concocted by a healer: it is a liquid containing a dangerous bacterium and which would have been sprinkled on a chicken acting as a fetish at the entrance to the house of the village notable.

“ We explained on the mystical side , explains Paul Kouassi, the president of the young people. Such a fetish, when it is installed in a Baoulé village, there can be deaths. The witch doctor said " no, for me it doesn't kill ". On December 2, the villagers began to fall, and the first little girl who died was her granddaughter. Also in the analysis, it turned out that those who are around the courtyard of the fetish, there were at least two deaths ”.

Since then, every house has been disinfected. The offending fetish has been destroyed. But the concern remains palpable. " A lot of people fled with children ," says Sylvain, the village chief's deputy. The other villages were not affected ”.

Last week, two people were sentenced to five years in prison for charlatanism. According to the prosecutor of the Bouaké court, judicial investigations are continuing to shed light on the deaths that have occurred in recent months.

https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/202302...se-et-mortelle

Announcement

Côte d'Ivoire - Bouaké: a mysterious disease affects the children of a village, 16 deaths - Clostridium

Côte d'Ivoire - Bouaké: a mysterious disease affects the children of a village, 16 deaths - Clostridium

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