Nigeria - Reps urge Nigerian Govt to probe strange killer disease in Gombe - February 27, 2024+ - State Commissioner of Health denies outbreak

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Location of Gombe State in Nigeria
/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_State

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Probe strange killer disease in Gombe, Reps urge FG

27th February 2024
By Dirisu Yakubu

The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to investigate and curtail the spread of an unidentified disease that has killed some persons in Nafada Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria.
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He added that the disease has claimed the lives of youths and children within the affected communities in the last few days, stressing that the number of victims continues to increase rapidly, thereby instilling fear and apprehension in the affected communities.

He listed the symptoms of the disease to include severe headache; stomach pain; vomiting and very smelly stool and leg pain leading victims to severe overall body pain before their untimely death.
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He said, “The House is disturbed that the blood samples of few victims that were tested in medical laboratory have shown negative reaction to Cerebrospinal Meningitis which implies that the disease is yet to be diagnosed by health authorities and medical experts in Gombe State;

“Worried that the disease is fast spreading with about 30 deaths recorded as at February 26 , 2024 and can potentially halt business and school activities across the communities as parents are afraid of sending their children to school due to fear of contracting the disease;
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https://punchng.com/probe-strange-killer-disease-in-gombe-reps-urge-fg/

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Reps urge Nigerian Govt to probe strange killer disease in Gombe

Published on February 27, 2024By Chris Johnson

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to investigate and contain the spread of an unidentified disease that has claimed lives in Nafada Local Government Area of Gombe State.

During the plenary session on Tuesday, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to deploy personnel to verify the nature of the disease.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was also tasked with implementing surveillance measures to contain its spread and provide treatment to affected victims.
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https://dailypost.ng/2024/02/27/reps-urge-nigerian-govt-to-probe-strange-killer-disease-in-gombe/

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No Outbreak Of Strange Disease In Gombe – Health Commissioner
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By Haruna Gimba Yaya
Balarabe Alkassim
Wed, 28 Feb 2024 7:06:22 WAT

The Gombe State Commissioner of Health, Dr Habu Dahiru, has said there is no outbreak of a strange disease in Nafada Local Government Area of the state.

Dahiru while responding to a report of an outbreak of a strange disease alleged to have killed 30 children in Nafada LGA, told Daily Trust that an Emergency Response Team, composed of epidemiologists and other health experts, were deployed to Nafada, to investigate and report back to the ministry.

“The team, on arrival, carried out an investigation on the number of deaths as contained in the social media speculations and found out that only three people had died under the period as against 20 reported on the social media,” he said.
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“Yes, there were cases of disease which turned out to be mild illness, and we have taken samples and most of them returned negative. As such, there was no outbreak of any disease in Nafada as erroneously reported in the social media,” he added.
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https://dailytrust.com/no-outbreak-of-strange-disease-in-gombe-health-commissioner/

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More from the article above:

"Daily Trust reports that a Facebook post written by one Mubarak Manu, who identified himself as community health scientist, last week went viral on social media platforms, where he claimed that there was an outbreak of a strange illness in Nafada LGA “which kills within 24 hours, if proper professional attention was not received”.

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Translation Google

Mubarak Manu Musa
February 18 at 3:07 AM ·

Seeking to take action in connection with the outbreak of an epidemic in Nafada Local Government in Gombe State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Peace be upon you,
World Health organisations.
Save the Children,
And other NGOs.
Federal Ministry of Health.
National Primary Health Care Dev. Agency.
Gombe State Ministry of Health.
Gombe State Primary Health Care Dev. Agency.
With respect and obedience to all levels of respect.
I will use this opportunity to ask for your favor on the plague in our area of Nafada Local Government.
Symptoms such as:
One foot,
Headache,
Abdominal pain,
Mother,
Foul Diarrhea,
Get out of my mind,
Hot Fever.
The person who catches a person will not die for more than 24 hours if he does not receive good care from experts.
At least we have lost a lot of Al ummah since the beginning of what happened in Gaza 32 in Nafada Local Government.
So far, there is no single step to tell us that the authorities have taken. And the thing is increasing.
I am using this opportunity to see if God will help me.
Ameen.
The Writer.
Mubarak Manu (EHA, Evt, Bsc. Community Health)
Community Health Scientists.
Bunun Nafada Matawallen.
Thank you

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Ad3ruUgBqSV58eMaNJUFDLonfM115C2YyFqkovfbv5YTRroU8p8CECq1p4pSVRZ5l&id=100085451239189

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NEWS
05 March 2024

Meningitis could be behind ‘mystery illness’ reports in Nigeria

The WHO confirms three meningitis deaths, which it says might have triggered rumours of an outbreak of an unknown disease.

By Sarah Wild

The World Health Organization has confirmed that reports of an ‘unknown’ disease allegedly responsible for 30 deaths in Gombe State, Nigeria, in mid-February can be linked to three cases of meningitis that are part of ongoing seasonal outbreaks.

The agency tells Nature that it is aware of reports of dozens of fatalities, but that on investigation it has found there have in fact been just three, resulting from confirmed cases of meningitis.

Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the regional Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have not confirmed or denied an unknown-disease outbreak in Gombe State. Neither organization responded to requests for comment from Nature’s news team.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00666-9