Strange disease kills 5 in Oju, Obi LGs

 


Chairman of Oju local government area, Benue state, Mrs Alicia Eru, has confirmed the death of five persons from a strange disease ravaging some communities in Oju and Obi local government areas.

The chairman said over 100  were currently down with the disease in the area.

Speaking with newsmen at the weekend in Makurdi, Mrs Eru said she had alerted the state government and that  two patients had been taken to the Benue state Universities Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) for their sample to be taken for analysis.

Eru stated that even though the disease was yet to be diagnosed, preliminary medical investigation revealed that some of the persons that were down with the symptoms tested positive to Hepatitis B.

“Four persons have died and the people that are down with the ailment in the village are more than 100.

“Six victims are lying critically ill in the hospital in Oju and at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), while another person has also died, bringing the total number of people who died of the disease to five”, she added.

Mrs Eru said the outbreak of the disease has compelled people to restrain from handshake, saying “more disturbing is the fact that the people obtain their source of drinking water from unhygienic sources like streams.


“In the areas worse hit, the people don’t have boreholes; they obtain their drinking water directly from the stream. During the rainy season, they harvest rain water and keep. By 
the time it is gets exhausted, they go to the stream to fetch drinking water from Rivers Oyongo and Obi.”

The Oju caretaker chairperson said the local government had evolved measures to contain the disease by embarking on enlightenment campaign against open defecation and exposing of food items, especially gari, for attack by rodents to avoid being contaminated.

She commended the prompt response of the state government through the deployment of medical experts to help fight the deadly disease.

When contacted, the state commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Sunday Ongbabo, said samples of the patients affected by the disease had already been  sent to Abuja for laboratory analysis to determine the cause of the ailment.

He said a state surveillance team was on ground in the area to identify the cases, carry out preliminary treatment and handle emergency situation.

The commissioner also stated that two people brought from the area were currently in a stable situation.

He said he was personally in Oju and Obi LGAs to ascertain the veracity of the outbreak of the disease and had spoken with the first class chief, stakeholders and the people on the basic preventive measures.

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