Five people have reportedly died and over 10 have been admitted at Sir Patrick Yakowa Memorial Hospital, Kafanchan, over the outbreak of an unknown disease in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Those reported to have died from the disease as of the time of filing this report are Zulaihat Abdurrasheed (13), Hussaina Aliyu (13), Maryam Mustapha (3), Aliyu Umar (4), and Abdulshakur Umar (2).
Confirming the incident, the secretary of the hospital, Ezra Joshua, said the hospital had taken samples to Kaduna to confirm the type of the disease and its treatment.
Daily Trust reports that all the nursery and primary schools in Kafanchan were locked by the school authorities after sending their pupils back home after the outbreak was reported on Wednesday.
“Yes, we received the case of the new disease that starts with fever, headache, sore throat, and general weakness of the body and affects 0 to 13-year-old children.
“We learnt that four to five children have already died in Kafanchan town of the disease, but we can’t confirm since it was not referred to our facility.
“What we have received now are 10 children that we have kept in isolation, and their samples have been taken to Kaduna as of now,” he said.
Joshua, who warned parents to stop referring their children to native doctors, urged them to quickly refer them to the hospital when they saw any symptoms of the disease.
He applauded the Kaduna State government, through the Ministry of Health, for their quick intervention.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Yunana Markus Barde, has called on the citizens to act fast and report whenever they discover children from 0 to 13 years old are confronted with difficulty breathing, excessive pains on the throat, and running of the nose to the hospital to prevent the outbreak from escalating and becoming uncontrollable.
